30 Kisses: Shinichi and Ran
by Candyland
Summary: For the 30 Kisses LJ Community. Thirty themes, thirty stories, thirty kisses for Shinichi and Ran.
1. Finding the Way Back

**Title:** Finding the Way Back  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#20: the road home  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

Ran stirred only slightly at the first sound and drifted off again. But the second knock on the door stirred her to wake up; she sat up in bed and blinked owlishly at the darkened room around her. Through the shadow of night, she squinted at her alarm clock. 

It was just after four in the morning.

The knock persisted—someone was at the front door, and they seemed quite determined to get the attention of the slumbering residents. If Conan-kun had been there, he probably would have gone to answer the door if for no other reason than to save her the trouble. But Conan-kun had gone on a long-overdue trip to see his parents. Her father's snoring would have masked the sound of a hurricane blowing by. Which meant that the responsibility fell to her. And rudeness was something Mouri Ran couldn't tolerate.

As she rolled out of bed, Ran's sleep-hazed mind vaguely wondered who in their right mind would be here at this ungodly hour, banging on the door. No immediate answers presented themselves, though, and so she plodded to the door.

Stifling a yawn, she opened the door with the intention of telling whoever it was to go away—

—and the yawn erupted into a shriek as she took in the thin, shadowed figure leaning heavily against the doorframe, one shaky hand raised to knock again. "Shinichi!"

That was as far as she got before he stumbled past the threshold, through the door, and fell against her, slumping limply into arms that had reached for him merely on reflex. She wasn't prepared for the weight, though, and did her best to lower him to the ground without injury, while at the same time she called desperately for her father.

Kogoro had first roused at the sound of his daughter's scream, and now came barreling down the stairs, convinced that someone had broken in and was threatening his daughter. But instead, he took in the unlikely sight of Ran on her knees, just inside the open door, cradling the unmoving form of Kudo Shinichi.

And Ran, now fully awake, was looking at him with wide, frightened eyes. "Tousan…help…" she half-whimpered, looking utterly lost as to what to do. "I can't move him…he won't wake up…"

In the face of his daughter's quiet plea, Kogoro didn't hesitate or ask questions. He sidestepped her, pushing the door closed before taking one of Shinichi's arms and pulling it across his shoulders. There was no resistance, no movement as he bodily hoisted the unconscious teenager from the floor, not even a murmur of protest.

Ran took Shinichi's other side, and together they moved him to the couch. They laid him out on his back, and Kogoro immediately began checking for vital signs while Ran watched apprehensively. Finally, Kogoro sat back and nodded, and his daughter released a pent-up breath.

"I'm going to call Megure," Kogoro stood up. "Something happened to him." He hesitated for a second, giving his daughter (who had dropped to perch on the edge of the couch by Shinichi's legs)a worried glance, then slipped out of the office. Every once in a while, he could actually be perceptive.

Now, finally, Ran was alone with Shinichi.

Beyond the windows, the clouds moved aside to allow the moon to shine through. The silver-white light slid into the room, kissing Shinichi's relaxed features and highlighting what seemed the remnants of a scuffle. She hadn't even noticed it until now, but he was in bad shape. There was a big tear in the sleeve of his shirt, stained red; a thin line of blood springing from a deep cut on one temple to run down the side of his face. And her heart nearly stopped when she noticed the dark bruises coloring his neck—she could make out the shadows of individual fingers. Someone had tried to…?

Gingerly, she traced the line of one of the bruises. He didn't react.

She didn't realize she was leaning over him like that, nor did she notice that she was crying until a tiny droplet of water fell on Shinichi's cheek. It was followed by another, and another, in close succession.

He had been attacked. There was no doubt about that. But why? Who? Was it related to one of his cases—a friend, a relative of someone Shinichi had put away? She didn't know, and she didn't understand.

Instead, she settled for watching him, studying him as he lay motionless. It was rare to see Kudo Shinichi this vulnerable. Even when they were children, it had been virtually impossible to sneak up on him—he had an uncanny ability to know when he was being watched or approached. There were those covert glances, those stolen moments of unhindered observation, but this was one of those precious moments where she could just sit and _look_ at him.

Her vision still slightly blurry, she studied the way the moonlight hung over his features and highlighted everything; he seemed cast of silver, platinum, a statue of one caught in the midst of slumber, carved by the most expert and loving hand.

But he wasn't some artist's masterpiece. He was a human being—an exhausted, hurting human being. She wondered where he had appeared from this time, how long it had taken him to find the road home in this state, how much of a struggle it had been for him to fall on her doorstep. His forehead was dotted with perspiration, and his bangs were sweat-soaked; his breathing had slowed and evened out in the moments since they had laid him out there, but when he'd arrived, it had been labored and hoarse.

At that moment, she could have sworn he was dying. Now, he looked to be merely sleeping.

He looked so thin. She didn't know why she thought of that, or if it was even a trick caused by the meeting of moonlight and shadow, but she really thought he did. Shinichi had always been lean, but there was a fine line between lean and gaunt, and he had marched past it. Was he eating well enough? If the dark circles under his closed eyes were any indication, he certainly hadn't slept well for quite a while. Was he not taking care of himself, wherever he was?

She realized belatedly that her fingers were slowly outlining the contours his face, running down his cheeks, outlining the sharp chin, drawing the slender line of his neck (trying not to shiver at those bruises), tracing his eyes, nose, lips…and wondering why…

He winced.

Her hand snapped away, pulling back lest she be caught.

For the first time in the fifteen minutes or so that he'd been laying there (and had it been fifteen minutes, it felt like a heartbeat or an eternity, she wasn't sure which…), he moved. A spasm seemed to surge through his body, and his head shook frantically from side to side with such force that she was afraid he would hurt himself. And then he was still again, save for his face, contorted and struggling for some unknown goal, reaching for a prize only he saw. A slight groan escaped him.

Blue eyes, almost silver in the moonlight, inched their way open and blinked, confused, before finally focusing in on her. The startled, near-panicked expression that had taken his face slid into relief. "Ran…" Shinichi murmured, as if he'd been expecting to see someone else; one hand moved unsteadily from his side and reached up towards her. "It's…it's really you, isn't it?"

Without thinking about it, she took his hand in her own. "It's me. Who else would it be?" she laughed a little, humorlessly, at him, and at herself, and how foolish they both really were.

His fingers paused at the contact with hers, then slid past them to reach up and gently let his fingers slide over the smooth, slightly damp skin on her cheek. "You're crying," he whispered.

It hit her then that more tears had escaped from the prison of her eyes to run free down her face. She wanted to protest, but only a little choked sob came out, and she could only manage, "Baka…"

He stared at her, then looked around. "This is…your house. How did I get here?"

"You knocked on the door," she explained, inordinately proud of how steady her voice was. "You fell in when I answered. You've been unconscious for the last few minutes."

Shinichi's brow furrowed as he thought it over. "That's right…I wanted to get here."

"Why here?" she asked.

"It's safe," he said, "and you're here."

"Oh…" she didn't know what else to say.

It was silent for a long moment before she summoned up the nerve to speak again. "Shinichi?"

"Hmm?" he said groggily, and she wondered if he had been falling asleep again.

"What happened to you?" Ran half-begged. The lack of answers was hurting her more than she would ever admit to. "You're hurt. You've been gone so long…what's happening?"

When he answered after a short pause, there was something in his tone that sent a shiver up her spine, leaving no room for arguments or doubts as to his sincerity. "Don't ask, Ran. It's better if you don't know. So please—don't ask again."

Concerned, and now no little frightened, Ran searched his eyes for an answer she honestly didn't know if she was ready to hear. She saw no answer, but she saw a world of other things—things he would have carefully shielded, had he his normal level of impenetrable self-control, but were now right there for anyone who thought to look for them.

Secrets.

Shadows.

An unnatural fear that darkened his eyes.

Whatever he had been through—whatever it was that kept him from her now—he was fighting it. He was refusing to let it break him, unwilling to give in to this darkness that hung persistently at the edges but was allowed no further.

He averted his gaze uncomfortably under her scrutiny before his eyes suddenly widened, as though a horrifying thought had just occurred to him. "I have to leave. Tomorrow. I can't stay here…" he tried to sit up, but didn't make it too far. A combination of Ran's hand on his shoulder and the betrayal of his own body forced him back down.

"You're in no condition to go anywhere," she said firmly, ignoring her breaking heart. "You're not moving tonight." Her expression turned from authoritative to plaintive then. "At least stay here the night so I know you've had at least one good night's sleep…" _So I can stay beside you…so I can watch over you…so we can be together, even if it's only for a little while…_

He was quiet, and for a horrible moment she thought he would refuse. But instead, his grip on her hand tightened. "Will you stay?" he begged, the barest hint of a whisper, clutching her hand desperately. The fingers brushing her cheek trembled slightly. He was scared of something.

Ran's free hand moved to brush his damp bangs back from his face before leaning down and gently brushing her lips against his forehead. She pulled back a little and smiled softly, sadly. "I'll stay right here. I promise."

He smiled, a mere ghost of the confident smirk she knew so well. "Someday," he whispered, holding her gaze for one last moment before his eyes slid shut, "I'll find my way back to you. For good."

Ran smiled. "Go to sleep." He did not answer, but silently obeyed.

She kept her word. She spent the night curled beside the couch—not the most comfortable of beds, but she was surprisingly happy and slept soundly. Her fingers remained tangled in Shinichi's, not daring to let go. Maybe he would disappear again tomorrow, and she would again be left wondering. But for tonight, at least, he was here, reaching out to her. For tonight, he was home.

And that was enough.

* * *

**AN: **Yup, joined up. Decided to follow fireblazie's lead and toss these up on this site for your consideration and hopeful enjoyment. They won't all be this heavy, I promise. We should run a full gambit of genres here. Thanks for reading! 

BTW, this goes out to **fireblazie**--your fics rock, and it's because of you that I found out about and get to write 30 Kisses. You're awesome!


	2. Dots and Lines

**Title:** Dots and Lines  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#9—dash  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

_Snap snap._

Ran actually pulled back and stared at the phone receiver in her hand, startled. She'd answered in the normal fashion ("Mouri Detective Agency"), but been cut off by what sounded like someone snapping their fingers on the other end of the line.

She slowly moved the receiver back to her ear and said, "Hello?"

"You should be writing this down," Shinichi's voice teased over the line.

She sighed, bewilderment giving way to irritation. "You nerd. What're you doing?"

"Oh, just delivering a message," he replied; she could almost _hear_ him grinning.

"Why should I play along?" she demanded.

"Because. Please?" Great. He was doing a sad puppy-dog voice. She just couldn't win…

"Fine," Ran took the bait as her curiosity got the better of her. "What am I doing?"

"Just write it down," he said cheerily.

"Write what down?"

"Trust me."

"That's a tall order."

"That hurt."

"You suck at life."

A pause.

"I _what_?" Shinichi half-squeaked.

"You heard me. So let's get on with it, shall we?" she huffed. He was so irritating sometimes, but she treasured these phone calls—not that she'd tell him that, though. As she spoke, she fished around in the desk and located a piece of paper and a pen. Poised and ready, she instructed him to begin.

He began, pausing every few clicks.

_Snap snap._

_CLAP CLAP._

_Snap snap.._

_Snap snap snap._

_Snap snap snap._

_CLAP snap__ CLAP CLAP._

_CLAP CLAP CLAP._

_Snap snap CLAP._

Silence on the other end of the line. Finally, Ran huffed, "What was that?"

"A message. But you have to crack the code," he snickered. "It's easy, don't worry!"

"Maybe for you!" she snapped, and regretted it instantly.

He was quiet for a second before he sighed, "I'm sorry. I…I'm just happy to hear your voice." He suddenly sounded very tired, and she felt worse. "But I hope you figure it out. It's just a little message from me to you…but you're a smart girl!" He seemed to buck up a bit, though she knew him well enough to know he was completely faking it. "I know you'll figure it out."

She decided not to call him on his little façade of happiness, but instead said, "I know I will."

The phone call then descended into the usual small talk marked by awkward pauses that said plenty on their own. When she hung up, she was left with the same unanswered questions as always. But at least this time, she had the mysterious puzzle to occupy a little time.

If only she had any idea what the hell he was talking about.

"Easy, my foot," she sighed, plopping down on the end of the couch and staring at the paper in her hand. She'd written down the sounds exactly as he had made them. But what did it mean, exactly?

Sometimes Shinichi just had to make things so complicated. Instead of just saying what was on his mind, he played stupid games and made things far more difficult than they had to be. But all right, fine. He'd presented the challenge, and her pride wouldn't let her ignore it. She would play his game.

Or whatever his bizarre little puzzle or code was.

Wait…a code?

Ran was a detective's daughter. Her long-absent best friend and love interest (though she had yet to actually admit it to him) was a detective. She had been hanging around police officers and cases her whole life. One doesn't go through that type of upbringing without acquiring some basic critical thinking skills. She might not have been on Shinichi's level, but she wasn't stupid.

And the word "code" had started her mind running a mile a minute.

She bent over the paper again, pen in hand, renewed determination on her face. After studying it for a minute, she started to write, wondering if perhaps her hunch was correct. Replace the claps with dashes, the snaps with dots. And the result was…

**Dot dot.**

**DASH DASH.**

**Dot dot.**

**Dot dot dot.**

**Dot dot dot.**

**DASH dot DASH DASH.**

**DASH DASH DASH.**

**Dot dot DASH.**

Code.

_Morse_ code.

She sighed. Her best friend was a hopeless nerd.

But anyway, now she had something to go on. She'd win this round.

Ran had learned Morse code for a school project a few years back. Now staring at this, she struggled to remember the various letters and their dot-dash counterparts. _Let's see…dot-dash is A…_

It took her a few minutes to work her way through the alphabet. But finally, she sat back and read down the letters, Shinichi's enigmatic little message. And she stared at it. Was this…?

After a moment, the faintest of blushes kissed her cheeks as a soft smile tugged at her lips.

He never could say what he meant, could he? For all his brilliance, he was so shy sometimes. But sometimes she wondered what would happen if…_when_ he came back. Could it be…?

She set the pen down as the door opened and small footsteps padded towards her.

"Ran-neechan?" Conan piped quizzically.

She stood up and scooped her young charge up into a big hug, dancing him around the room. He let out a full-blown squawk at her suddenly attentions. "Shinichi just called!" she laughed, swinging the small boy in a circle. "I'm so happy!"

In the cradle of her arms, Conan squirmed uncomfortably and blushed.

Behind Conan's eyes, Shinichi smiled fondly. She'd figured it out—she had to have gotten the message for her to be this happy. And even if he couldn't be there himself, at least he could still make her smile like this once in a while.

Meanwhile, the simple code lay on the table. The paper was forgotten, but the message was not.

**I: ..**

**M: --**

**I: ..**

**S: …**

**S: …**

**Y: -.--**

**O: ---**

**U: ..-**

**

* * *

**

**PS. **Morse code is fun. I'm not sure if this is what they meant by _dash_ or not, but that's what I interpreted it as. Hope it's clear to read. I don't know where this came from…but it was kind of fun to write, a little bit silly, and it was nice and sweet at the end. All is well.

And a big thank you to all the wonderful reviewers! Thank you for the nice comments!


	3. Bad Day

**Title:** Bad Day  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#13—excessive chain  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

It was, Ran reflected somewhat angrily as she sat by the bike rack, One of Those Days.

If it could go wrong, then by golly, it would.

It had started that morning. She'd overslept—a lot. After a massive panic attack, she had managed to yank on her school uniform and raced out the door…where she promptly tripped and fell down the stairs. Righting herself, she made a quick decision and decided to take her bike to school; it was faster. By some miracle, she actually managed to make it just as the bell was ringing.

Shinichi was already in the classroom, and he had complimented her on setting a new record for long-distance running, from the school gate to the classroom door. She expertly ignored him.

And from there, it got worse.

In her haste to make that hundred meter dash to school, she had forgotten a good number of her homework assignments. In class after class, sensei scolded her angrily. By the time she sat down for fourth period (after the chewing out), she was ready to go to the bathroom and cry for the entire rest of the class.

And Shinichi watched quietly, his snide remark from earlier forgotten.

Lunch rolled around…and she had forgotten hers. In what proved to be one of the better moments of the day, Sonoko and Shinichi rallied to help out, and split their lunches with her. They sat out under one of the big trees by the school and enjoyed the lovely spring breeze.

…and then it was back to the crunch.

She was pretty sure she'd failed that math test. She didn't understand a word of science. She managed to smack her knee on the corner of a table. The day just went on and on and on…

It was the kind of day that would make one believe that Murphy was an optimist.

She'd raced from the classroom the minute the bell had sounded, ignoring the bruise on her knee.

And now, here she was, staring at her bicycle. Actually, not so much the bike as the bike chain. Or even more specifically, the lock on the bike chain, the combination to which she had managed to forget. Thus, it remained stalwartly locked.

She thought about kicking the bike, but that wouldn't get her anywhere, except having to both walk home _and_ lug a broken bicycle all the way there, when/if she ever got it free. So she settled for kicking the bike rack a couple of times instead before plopping down on the ground next to her bike, nursing an aching foot and putting her face in her hands.

'Bad Day' just wasn't covering it.

'Bad Day of Evil and DOOM' was a bit more accurate, she reasoned.

This sucked. It just sucked. Sucked, sucked, sucked…

"Ran?"

When she turned around, eyes blurred by tears, Shinichi froze.

He'd seen her struggling, and thought he would stop and say hi, see if she was feeling any better, if she wanted to go home together—dutifully doing his duty as Ran's Official Best Friend. And now she was looking at him, crying. Shinichi hated it when she cried.

Especially when he wasn't _quite_ a hundred percent sure if he was responsible for the tears or not…

But he'd seen it earlier. Ran was having a bad day. A really bad day, if his observations were correct. And they always were, of course. And he'd decided to see if he could remedy it. Fidgeting a little nervously, he inched towards her while she sniffled pathetically.

"Here," he mumbled, thrusting his handkerchief at her, feeling his face heat up. He absolutely hated seeing her cry, even when it wasn't directly his fault. "Stop crying, okay?" The instant he said it, he felt like an utter idiot. That wasn't going to help.

Sure enough, her face just crumpled; she turned away, ignoring the proffered handkerchief, and instead of just being all teary, she started crying for real. Ran was bawling.

And Shinichi felt like a proper moron.

Inching around her, he knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder. His movements were wooden from nerves—he felt like Pinocchio. "Hey, come on. What's the matter?" As if he didn't already know. Not really sure what he was doing, he let the hand on his shoulder move around her, while his other hand slipped under her chin and half-forced her to turn her head and look at him.

Her face was scarlet, her eyes red-rimmed and tear-filled. "Go away…" she hiccupped, voice hoarse. "You're not helping. I'm having a really crappy day, and you're making fun of me…I don't need this right now" She tried to turn her head away again. "Go away…"

Trying really hard not to freak out at the fact that she was crying _or_ at their close proximity (they'd been close before, they'd been friends for such a long time, but still…), he didn't let her look away, but again offered the handkerchief. "I'm not making fun of you. Here."

This time she took it and set about trying to make herself somewhat presentable. He waited patiently until she straightened. Her eyes were still red and watery, but nothing more was coming out of them. She sniffled again, but the waterworks didn't start again.

"Feel better?" Shinichi asked quietly, his face absolutely crimson.

She glanced up at him…and realized belatedly that she was leaning somewhat cozily into his shoulder, his arm circled comfortably around her shoulders. She could feel every breath he took, the rising and falling of his chest again her back.

_Enter three-alarm blush._

Clearing her throat noisily, she stood up suddenly and started fumbling with the bike chain again, the initial source of her breakdown. "I—I can't remember the combination…" she stammered. Her voice trailed off then, as she twisted four numbers into the lock and yanked—and it opened easily in her hands.

Just when she had thought she couldn't go any redder, her face was about to burst into flames.

"Well, would you look at that?" Shinichi chuckled lightly, pulling the bike from the bike rack and re-shouldering his schoolbag. "Come on, I'll walk you home." She tried to protest, but he paid her no mind, wheeling her bike along while she sprinted to catch up. They walked in relative silence.

As her house came into view, she finally spoke. "Shinichi?"

"Hmmm?"

"…thanks."

"Anytime," he grinned. "Do you feel better?"

"Yeah…"

"Good. Then take your bike and gimme back my handkerchief!" he teased, carefully leaning the bike against the wall as they finally arrived at her home.

She took a half-hearted swing at him, just from force of habit, and was startled when he caught her wrist. Usually, he just ducked or ran like hell. But his fingers closed around her hand, and flipped it over, holding his fingers in his own. Before she could even think to really react to this strange deviation from his normal behavior, he had dipped his head in a courtly bow, and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand.

Ran froze, her brain experienced a fatal error, and shut down entirely. Complete meltdown.

While she tried desperately to reboot, he straightened and smiled at her. "I'll see you tomorrow. And tomorrow will be a better day, guaranteed or your money back!" And he was gone, toodling off down the sidewalk towards his own home and whatever business awaited him there.

As reality clocked back in, Ran realized that she was standing on the sidewalk, staring at the spot where Shinichi had last been visible. Slowly, her eyes dropped to look at her hand—he had…

_Blush_.

Slowly, a veeeeeeeeery lovely crimson color spread over Ran's face. And a veeeeeeeeery goofy grin tugged the corners of her mouth aaaaaaaaaall the way back to her ears. _Shinichi…_

She turned to go inside…and tripped over the bicycle, ending up in a heap of limbs and metal bars. Cursing loud and creatively (a habit she had inherited from her dad—truly, her father's daughter, only smarter), she picked up the fallen transport and wheeled it inside.

Well, Shinichi _had_ said that _tomorrow_ would be a better day…

She just had to survive the rest of _today_.

And thus ends the story of Ran and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day.

* * *

**PS. **_As I'm writing this, there's a little Shinichi-Devil sitting on my shoulder, stabbing me in the head with his pitchfork and whining that it's been three chapters into the 30 Kisses challenge, and he hasn't actually gotten to kiss Ran yet. He is demanding that he be allowed to get his mack on. I'm looking for a fly-swatter._

_As always, thank you for your compliments and wonderful words of support! I'm one-tenth done with the challenge for Shinichi/Ran!_

_**Note to self**: Get a life, kthxbye._


	4. What's in the Bag?

**Title:** What's in the Bag?  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#18—"say aah"  
**Rating: **PG-13 (minor warning for suggestive dialogue, but nothing too graphic)  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

It was just an innocent little bag. A perfectly innocuous shopping bag.

But for some reason, Shinichi kept glancing at it. And for the life of him, he didn't know why. All it was doing was sitting there, by the end of the couch, not bothering him in any way…okay, so it _was_ bothering him, but he couldn't say why.

Finally, by the time Ran sat down next to him, his curiosity was insatiable. And he still didn't know why the non-offensive shopping bag was bugging him so damn much! So, in the true Shinichi fashion, he asked. "What's in the bag?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Ran murmured.

"That bag," he pointed at the light brown bag. "What's in it?"

After a minute, she grinned cheerfully. "Your birthday present is in there." There was a pause from the peanut gallery, and she gave him a knowing Look. "You forgot your birthday was coming up again, didn't you?" Silence. "You turn twenty-one in two days, and you still can't remember?"

"I plead the Fifth Commandment."

"Thou shalt not kill?"

"Yeah, that one," he chuckled. "Soooooo…can I look?"

Ran quirked a brow and shook her head. "You peek, you die."

His face fell. "Awww, come on! Just a hint?"

"No."

"A peek?"

"No."

"Twenty questions?"

"Aren't we already doing that?"

"Touché."

"You're going to have to wait," she said firmly.

He sat back and pouted. And she laughed at him for a minute before hoisting herself up from the couch and heading towards the door. She paused with her hand on the doorknob. "I'm really craving some ice cream right now. Do you want some?"

"Sure!" he grinned.

She gave him a Look. "Can I trust you not to peek at what's in the bag?"

"Is this the face of someone who you can't trust?" he teased, giving her his best "Pity Me Because I Can Do Sad Puppy Dog Eyes™" Look and clasping his hands together in an angelic fashion. Even now, approaching his twenty-first birthday, he could still pull off the ol' Innocent.

Ran caved. "All right. Be right back. No funny business." And she was gone.

The Sad Puppy Dog Eyes of Evil slid into his usual smirk. Shinichi was curious by nature, and not even the threat of Ran's killer right hook could keep him from something he really wanted to know. And so he slipped over to the other end of the couch, leaning over to reach his prize.

"Let's see what Ran got me for my birthday…" he chuckled to himself, reaching in. What he actually pulled out of the bag, though, made his jaw fall straight through the floor. The object in his hand proved to be an article of clothing.

It was…red. _Very_ red, actually.

And girly.

And silky.

And short.

And strappy.

And lacy. Lots of lace. Black lace. In very strategic areas. If a person were wearing this—_ahem_, garment—you could probably see right through some parts of it. Not that much would be left to the imagination anyway, with…and it was _decidedly_ feminine…

Shinichi decided rather hurriedly that now was a good time to stop thinking entirely.

Carefully replacing the…clothing in the bag, he clambered back to the other end of the couch, putting distance between himself and _It_. Yes, _It._ Besides, Ran would be back any second, and if she knew he'd peeked…oh boy, was he gonna get it!

But he would have to be discreet. Play it cool. Otherwise, she'd know right away. She had that strange power to always know when he'd done something he probably should not have. So he just had to act natural. Totally natural…

He didn't even hear Ran come in, he was still staring blankly off into space, mentally reciting his mantra of _Act natural. Act natural. Act natural. _Needless to say, he was already screwed when she set her bowl down and smacked him on the head with her now-empty hand. When he looked up at her quizzically, she held the bowl out to him.

"Shinichi. Ice cream," she raised a curious eyebrow at him, then raised a spoonful. "Say aah."

He obliged (somewhat woodenly, though not in the perverted way, thank you!), and found himself with a spoon sticking out of his mouth and a bowl deposited in his hands. The mingling tastes of chocolate and vanilla melted onto his tongue; it was quite delightful.

Ran dropped down onto the couch with her own bowl, and promptly leaned against his shoulder. He went rigid (and why must everything in this tragic little tale sound so very hentai?), his mind still far, far away in a world that consisted mostly of unprintable thoughts.

Ran continued to chatter amiably about this and that, not really noticing that Shinichi was working on his ice cream with deliberate slowness, his eyes staring off towards some point that she couldn't see. And if she could see it, she probably would have broken both of his arms.

It was like this for what seemed a long time before he was shaken back to Earth by Ran sitting upright and muttering, "Aw, crap!" He turned to see that a heavy drop of chocolate syrup had escaped her spoon, narrowly missed her chin, and wound up dripped right onto her chest.

"Crap…I'm such a klutz!" she berated herself in an exasperated tone. A quick sweep with one finger gathered the runaway chocolate from its rather awkward landing point. She then proceeded to lick it from her finger, humming to herself.

Shinichi's well-developed brain had officially broken down. Utterly, completely, totally, one hundred percent gone offline. Thinking was not even a possibility.

It didn't help that she was wearing this scoop-necked shirt. Oh no, she had to pick today to show off juuuuuuuust enough skin. But add the shirt into the mix, plus the chocolate, plus what was in that bag, plus the way she was cheerily lapping at her spoon…

The Magical Hormone Fairies descended upon Shinichi then, and carried him far, far away. To Planet Bouncy. And there was no way in hell his mind was going to come back anytime soon.

Chocolate sauce.

Drip, drip, dripping onto smooth, pale skin.

Dripping onto places not _quite_ covered by red silk and black lace.

Lace that one could see right through.

_Meeeeeep…_

His thoughts (though perhaps it would be more accurate to say _fantasies_) were rather rudely interrupted when Ran grabbed his chin and forced his head back so the only place he could look was straight into her eyes. And it was then that he realized where he had been staring.

It hadn't gone unnoticed. "Tell me your eyes were not stuck where I think they were stuck."

"Uhhh…" he fumbled briefly for words. "…they weren't?"

She was quiet for a moment, then frowned as comprehension dawned. She released his chin and sat back, giving him yet another Look. "You looked in the bag, didn't you?"

A few desperate squeaks of denial escaped him before he realized that she was not buying it, and he slumped forward, defeated. "I couldn't help it…I'm naturally curious, and it was there!" As he explained, he reached out with one hand and deposited the half-empty bowl on the table.

Ran stared at him for a minute before she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Shinichi, that isn't your birthday present." Her bowl joined his on the table and she folded her arms. "Honestly, you think I would give you something like _that_? Really, you're supposed to be so smart!"

_Blink, blink._

"It was a joke, genius. That's not your birthday present." Now she was laughing at him.

And those little chocolaty images were _still_ running around his head like panicky squirrels.

It wasn't helping at all. So much for his dignity.

He stared at her for a minute, trying to rein in his imagination, before clearing his throat loudly. "I figured that. I mean, what in the world would I do wi—HMPH?" He was rather abruptly cut off when Ran pounced on him, knocking him flat on his back on the couch, his arms above his head. Fortunately, the ice cream bowls were safely deposited on the table.

And before he had registered what was happening, she was kissing him. _Hard_. There was absolutely no room for argument. She wanted this, she was taking what she wanted, and he was more than happy to comply with the unspoken demand, and kiss her back. _Hard_. He tasted chocolate and vanilla and maraschino cherry and _Ran…_

Ran pulled back suddenly, smirking at him with all the sly smugness of a cat in a creamery. Then she leaned back in close so her warm, hurried breath tickled his neck and whispered quite seductively into his ear, "_That's_ the wrapping paper."

* * *

**PS. **_I'm going to be blunt—**fireblazie**, this one is ALL YOUR FAULT. She made a comment about chocolate and lace, and I took it as a personal challenge. And lo, it was risqué. This is your fault. Happy dedication, ne? Another big THANK YOU to **Fred the Mutant Pickle**, my long-suffering friend and beta-reader. Thanks again everyone, and much love!_

**THE RULES (of Evil): **_Someone asked exactly what the rules of the 30 Kisses Challenge was, so here's the scoop on that: it's based from a LiveJournal community. You have to request your couple or couples. No two people can write on the same couple, and it's first come, first served. Once you get your pairing, you get to start writing, and you're supposed to post to the community at least once every two months, or you can lose your couple._

_There's a list of thirty themes—gardenia, calcium pills, etc. Some really weird stuff. The challenge is to write using these themes. You can do thirty stories with one theme per story (that's what both fireblazie and I are doing—she's got Heiji/Kazuha, lucky girl), or you can do multiple themes per story. But each story has to include a kiss, be it romantic, metaphorical, between other people, whatever. The stories can be one hundred word drabbles, or one hundred thousand word epics, it matters not._

_That's the challenge. It is much fun. Hope that's all clear!_


	5. Let It Snow

**Title:** Let It Snow  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#3—jolt!  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

The world was a shimmering white.

And the air was absolutely frigid, Shinichi realized as he stepped outside. The freezing wind slapped him across the face, and he jolted at the cold. Instinctively, he pulled his coat tighter around himself to try and keep warmer by trapping more body heat.

It was a fight to keep his balance in some places, though. The streets were slick with ice, and the snow continued to fall. It was exceedingly beautiful…but hazardous to his physical health as he slipped and slid all over the place.

He had known it was serious when Mouri-tantei had called him—that in itself was the first sign that something was horribly, horribly wrong. Since the truth of Conan had come catapulting out into the open with the discovery and subsequent downfall of the Black Organization, Kudo Shinichi had definitely not been on Kogoro's List of Favorite People.

Or Ran's, for that matter…

But that had been the subject of Kogoro's frantic phone call: Ran. She had gone out for a walk nearly two hours before, and hadn't come home. Calls to her cell phone went unanswered. In a panic, and unable to locate her, he had actually become desperate enough to call Shinichi and ask if he knew where she had disappeared to.

He hadn't a clue, but he had instantly offered his services in helping to search. Said services were readily accepted, and the second the call was disconnected, he was sprinting, barely taking time to sling his heavy jacket over his shoulders and shove his feet into sneakers before he dashed out into the snow.

It would have been beautiful if he wasn't so desperate to find someone who he wasn't quite sure wanted to be found. It wasn't like Ran to simply disappear. But with everything that had happened lately…

* * *

_Her eyes…those beautiful blue eyes should never look like that. They should never have to cry._

_Yet there were tears welling up in her eyes, running free down her face._

_And she stared at him, not saying anything, as one would stare at a particularly awful specimen on a dissecting table in some lab. Horrified. Angered. So very sad…_

_And he swore he heard something shatter, even as far apart as they were._

_But whether it was her heart or his, he didn't know.

* * *

_

No. He wasn't going to think about that now. First he had to find her. Once he found her, then he would see what happened. But his main goal here was to return her to her parents and escape before Kogoro decided that his flayed, tanned skin would make a nice throw rug.

But where was she?

And suddenly, the inner level of panic that had been digging at him gave way to the strangest sense of calm. His feet were moving on their own. They seemed to know the way, based on instinct alone. And he let it go. It was a place to start. He slid around a corner, nearly winding up flat on his ass…

…and she was there.

He'd found her without having any real idea how. Not that it mattered.

He jogged towards her, stopping only a few meters away. And he stared for a moment, taking in the breathtaking scene before remembering why he was there in the first place.

"Ran, what are you doing out here? It's freezing! You'll catch pneumonia," he asked softly. If he spoke too loudly, it would disturb the scene. He wished he had a camera, but for the lack of one had to put the moment in his memory, of her standing there, looking up at the sky as the wind swirled the snow around her like magic.

"Thinking," she replied, equally quiet. Her words carried on the wind.

He took a step closer; there was a slight squeak as the snow was ground beneath his shoe. "Your father called me. Nobody knew where you were. He was really worried." He had to have been, to actually pick up the phone and willingly call Shinichi for help.

"Snow…" she breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly, watching raptly as her breath hung in the air like a cloud. It seemed that she hadn't heard him mention her father. "Snow is so beautiful, but so very sad. Joyous and depressing at the same time."

"Yes, it is," he agreed, not quite sure what else to say.

"I wish I was a snowflake," she murmured as he inched closer, closer…

Shinichi briefly wondered if she even remembered he was there, or if she was simply talking to herself. But he prodded gently, "Why would you want to be a snowflake?"

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" she whispered.

_So are you, _he desperately wanted to interject, but she was still speaking. And he listened.

"Snowflakes are beautiful. No two alike, each one completely different from the others," she went on softly. "I wish I could be one. You fall from Heaven itself, all the way to Earth. You're carried on the wind—dancing, spinning, whatever you want. You follow the wind, floating above the world for a while. Flying," she paused and took another deep breath and let it out, watching the resulting cloud with some fascination. "No worries. No cares. Just flying, all over the place. You make people happy, even though you irritate some."

She paused. He waited patiently.

Her eyes slid closed, and her face turned upwards towards the dark sky. And she spoke again, a whisper almost lost to the wind and the falling snow. "And then you die quickly, in warmth."

Another gust of wind shot by, and another jolt of shivers slid through Shinichi's entire body in spite of his heavy coat. Ice clawed its way up his spine—but that chill had absolutely nothing to do with the frigid air and everything to do with his disbelieving ears.

"Ran—" he started, but she cut him off.

"Dying quickly in warmth is much better than dying by inches alone, wouldn't you agree?" she finally turned to look at him, and he saw the strangest look in her eyes. "You lied to me, Shinichi. You knew I was worrying over you, crying over you, and you just sat there and watched, all sweetness and light. I don't know if I can trust you." Her gaze dropped to the ground. "And nobody understood. You're the only one who ever understood, and you were gone. I hated it. I hated being alone…"

Something stirred in him. "You weren't alone, though." When she didn't reply, he went on, "Ran, my parents wanted to take me off to America with them. Remember when Conan's mother showed up? That was my mother. They wanted to take me back with them, so they came up with that ruse so you wouldn't worry. But I wouldn't go. I…I couldn't just leave you."

Ran was silent.

He kept walking towards her. The couple of meters between them seemed an ocean, one that he could never hope to transverse. He would never get to her. "My life was in danger, and everyone connected to me could be in danger. I was a child to protect myself…but I was Conan for you, and you only." He sighed. "I didn't want you to be lonely."

Still, she did not speak. It was a little unnerving.

He swallowed hard, trying not to be distracted by the way the snowflakes were sprinkled on her hair, standing out white against the dark brown color of her mane. The chilly wind blew stray strands across her face, and he repressed the urge to reach out and brush those errant locks away from her nose and behind her ear so it wouldn't obstruct her face.

He was almost ready to throw himself to his knees on the ground and start begging when she finally spoke. "You stayed…for me?" she said softly. The blank, lost expression shifted to confusion, and…did he dare to dream that he saw hope there?

Shinichi nodded. "For you." His voice caught painfully in his throat, and he swallowed hard to try and dislodge the lump there. He had one chance to make things right, and damned if he was going to let his body betray him again, as it had so many, many times before. "You say the snow is beautiful. Ran, have you looked in a mirror lately?" And his volume control vanished and no more words would come out.

Her jaw dropped a little, and she seemed to stumble over her words for a minute before she managed to answer him. "You…I…" she hesitated, "…you think I'm beautiful?" When he nodded, she looked absolutely stunned. "Shinichi…"

Some little voice in the back of his mind was telling him that he needed to take her home. Who knew how long she had been out here in the cold and snow and ice? The wind was still harsh, attacking them with all of winter's fury. Her parents were at home, absolutely frantic. He'd come to find her and return her to them, but now she was here and he was here and she was listening.

It was now or never.

"I know this isn't what you deserve," he said quietly, continuing to move cautiously towards her. If she backed away, he would stop, but she simply watched him, azure eyes wide in a face that was even paler than usual. Ignoring his trembling hands, he went on, "This isn't how it should be. It's not romantic or anything—not that I'm very good at that, as I'm sure you've noticed." That last was accompanied with a soft, self-deprecating laugh that held little humor. "And I don't have flowers or anything for you…hell, I'm just making a huge mess of this…" He looked down and took a deep breath. "But…"

His eyes lifted and met hers steadily. She waited expectantly.

"Ran…I love you," he said simply. No embellishment, no elaboration, just the simple truth.

She looked at him with eyes that shone silver-blue. He felt as though she was looking straight through him, right down into his very heart. But, he realized, if she really could see that, then she could see that he was telling a mere smidgen of the truth.

Some things—some emotions—just couldn't be adequately put into spoken speech.

She was an arm's reach away now…no, less than that. All he had to do was reach out and—

Shinichi's hand moved of its own accord. His fingers slid to her arm, running up the sleeve of her coat to her shoulder. He inched a bit closer still; now they were close enough that he could actually feel her warmth, and his fingers slid to her neck, grazing gently over her cool skin.

Nearly a minute had passed since his confession, and she had not yet spoken. She offered no sign of a reaction whatsoever. Only her eyes gazing steadily up at him. It would have been unnerving if he wasn't so spellbound by those twin sapphires glowing in the night.

His fingers, still acting with a mind of their own, slid up into her hair, running through the length of her chocolate-colored locks. "Are you all right?" he asked softly. Perhaps it was a response to the question, but she moved, her hand slowly reaching up to his shoulder.

The feeling of uncertainty returned, and Shinichi bit his lip. "…Ran?"

"Shhh…" she whispered as her fingers caught the color of his coat. Using that as leverage, she drew his head down towards her. He offered no resistance at all, instead letting himself be pulled closer as he pulled her closer. Ran's eyes closed, and he followed suit as he felt her warm breath on his face.

Her name was a whisper carried on the last sigh of air to rush past his lips as they closed gently on hers. Her hands on his face drove off the cold, and her arms around his neck chased away the exhaustion of the late hour. The feel of her hair tangled like rough silk in his fingers staved off the persistent doubts, and the feel of her lips against his banished the last remnants of fear that he had lost her forever.

The night was still now. The biting wind, which had carried the freezing touch of winter to so many, had now passed through and move on in search of a new place, as it was wont to do. Ever moving and ever changing—just as it had always been, just as it had always done.

In the quiet stillness of the darkened street, two young lovers reclaimed each other. They had been dragged through Hell itself, nearly parted forever. Clinging to each other, they were not cold by any means, but warmed by each other. And the snow fell quietly around them, with no wind to disturb its journey to Earth. In the dim light, it sparkled, like diamonds scattered on the cold, cold ground.

Shimmering like magic.

* * *

**PS. **_The whole speech about wanting to be a snowflake and "dying in warmth" was actually something my friend Josh said during an MSN conversation. I thought it was a beautifully haunting statement, and asked if I could borrow it. It inspired the entire chapter. Thanks, Josh!_

_This…turned out a little weird. But I had fun. Got snow on the brain 'cause we had our first snow a couple of days ago. Yay for Iowa winters, huh? Oh well. Thanks again, everyone! Much love!_


	6. Letting Go

**Title:** Letting Go  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#4—our distance and that person  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

You know what? This sucks. 

I don't usually give into my misery like this, but right now, I just need a good wallow in self-pity. I've come to the conclusion that it's perfectly healthy and natural to whine and complain once in a while. Not so sure about my ever-growing desire to do indescribable things to Gin with a crowbar and a pair of pliers, but we won't talk about that right now.

But can you blame me? I've always been sarcastic and cynical—God knows I'm far too sarcastic for my own good most of the time, even now. And cynicism is sort of par for the course with what I do. But now in addition to being sarcastic and cynical, I'm bitter and disillusioned to boot. Makes for good company, wouldn't you agree?

Given my, ah, present situation, I'm proud of myself for holding together this long. It really is enough to drive a person crazy. And sometimes I wonder if I _am_ losing my mind. But I got to thinking, about relationships and people and all that fun stuff.

It's sort of strange, but Conan has sort of become a link between Ran and Shinichi.

Do you know strange it is to be me? I'm stuck in the middle…between myself and another person. So I'm trapped in two different spots on this crazy spectrum. If I didn't have a handle on it, it would probably drive me insane trying to make sense of it. And it's weird, I know, but I've almost started thinking of myself as two different people.

There's Shinichi. Ran's childhood best friend, and the boy she fell for somewhere along the line. The idiot, who waited too long to say something too important, and is now regretting it. He's brilliant at a crime scene or on a soccer field, but he was a moron at deducing his own feelings. And now he can't be with the girl he loves, and he has no real excuse for not telling her in the first place, giving her an actual reason to wait, and himself some feeling of belonging. The idiot.

And then there's Conan. Ran's little bodyguard. He follows her around like a little shadow, always watching carefully, prepared to chase off anyone that might have less-than-pure intentions towards his beloved big sister—be that person a murderer, a criminal, or another boy. And most importantly, Conan is pretty much the only person who can console Ran when she's upset about something, or missing Shinichi-the-idiot who breaks her heart. He's her adoptive little brother.

Ironic how one person can take on two entirely different identities, and play two entirely different roles. And somewhere in the middle of it all—between the ever-present Conan and the ever-absent Shinichi—is the real me. I'm stuck somewhere in the middle, I just don't know where. I've worn this mask for so long that I'm not sure I remember how to take it off. I can no longer point to the spot where Conan leaves off, and the real me begins.

It scares me. I no longer have a real identity. And yet, I still hold on.

My parents wanted to take me away to America with them. And in reality, I probably should have gone. As long as the Black Organization is around, I'm in danger. Sooner or later, they'll find me. I have no illusions about that. But I stayed—there's someone here who needs me.

Every day that Shinichi is gone is one more inch that they move apart. He leaves her dangling to protect her, breaking her heart to keep her safe and making her cry to save her life. And there I go again, thinking of him as a separate person. Why do I keep doing that? I am Shinichi, in mind if nothing else.

…I should let her go. I have no right to monopolize her life without anything to back it up. If I could find a way to let her know that I'm thinking about her and that I do miss her…then maybe I wouldn't feel so guilty. But I was an idiot, and now I'm paying the price.

I should let her go. But I don't—I haven't.

Why do I hold on, you ask? Why haven't I done the right thing and let go?

I'll admit that it's partially because I'm selfish—she's mine, dammit, even if it isn't official yet. I can't accept the idea, the bare suggestion, that someone else might step into her life and take her away. So I hang around and glare at them from behind Conan's glasses. I feel like an attack dog or something, but most of them get the message in record time. The few that don't…well, let's just say I've found many fascinating things that one can do with super-sneakers and various kickable objects.

I'm digressing again, aren't I? Anyway, yes, part of the reason I cling so desperately to Ran is because I'm just plain selfish, and I won't let anyone else have her until I know for certain that I can't be with her. But that's really not the only reason why I hold onto her like I do.

I hold on because I _can't_ let go.

I'm dangling over a cavern, holding onto a wire—that wire is the hope that there will be a cure and I will get back to normal. It's held up by the way Ran smiles when she gets one of Shinichi's phone calls, and the way her eyes sparkle when she speaks of him. But the wire is growing ever thinner, as time goes by. It cuts into my hands; I'm hurt by the one lifeline I can't release—just as Ran can't let go of Shinichi, no matter how much it hurts her.

Yet I cling to it because if I let go of that hope—if I let go of Ran—then I'm lost. Forever. I'll fall into that big black pit and they'll never be able to pull me out again. Shinichi will be gone for good, broken into a thousand pieces and scattered to the wind. She'll never get him back, and she'll cry.

And I think there's another reason. Scratch that—I _know_ there's another reason. It took me a while to recognize this for what it was, and I try to ignore it. I hate admitting when something scares me.

Yes, scares me. I'm afraid to let her go because of what it would mean for me. Aside from my true identity disappearing forever, I mean. If I let go—or if she lets go, for that matter—then I'm really all alone, aren't I? Without the one person who ever really took the time to know me as more than just the class brain, the ace soccer player, the face on the news.

And the thought of being alone, being without her…it terrifies me like nothing else ever could.

So I hold onto my hope, and I hold onto her. I hold on _for_ her.

Someday, Ran. Someday I'll get out of the middle of this stupid situation. I _will_ bring the Black Organization to justice, and I _will_ get back to myself once and for all. And then I'll be able to come back for good. I promise I won't screw it up this time, like I've screwed it up every single time. Because I am not going to make the mistake of waiting anymore—you deserve better than that.

I know you like flowers, so I'll make sure I have some for you. I know I owe you the world's biggest apology, and I am prepared to grovel—and make this all up to you, even if it takes me the rest of my life. I will tell you the truth.

And then I am going to kiss you within an inch of your life. You can punch me if you want.

But then watch out, because after you're done beating me…I'll just do it again.

* * *

**PS. **_Ah, the waff…thanks for tuning in, everyone. Much love!_


	7. Stealing a Kiss

**Title:** Stealing a Kiss  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#28—Wada Calcium CD3 (calcium pills)  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

Today was the day, Shinichi had decided.

Today, he was going to get up his nerve, and come hell or high water, he was going to kiss Ran.

Things had been…hectic over the last few weeks, to say the least. Between bringing down the Black Organization, doing happy dances over said fall of said evil syndicate, getting back to himself, and persuading Ran not to murder him, it had just been nuts.

And amidst all the whirlwind, he had realized that he now, finally, had the ability to do something about his feelings for Ran. He had wisely opted to wait until after she had decided that it was worth it to let him live AND until she had officially forgiven him. Now he was free to actually act upon the feelings that tugged at his heart whenever he thought about the beautiful, caring, albeit _dangerous_ karate champ.

After all, there was always that underlying fear that she would, ya know, break his arms were he to make a move. Or rather, make the _wrong_ move. But he was going to kiss her, dammit. Even if it meant his imminent, painful, punchy and roundhouse kicky death.

What was life without risks, eh? Risks, like trailing a couple of men in Black Suits of Evil to a secluded spot under a bridge to watch an illegal transaction…yeah, what was life without risks?

Nobody answer that question.

But the point was that before the day was out, Shinichi was going to kiss Ran. He was aiming for a peck on the cheek, figuring that wouldn't get him ripped into _quite_ as many pieces.

Now, of course, the simple, logical thing would have been to just ask her if he could kiss her, and act in accordance with her answer—but when it came to Ran, Shinichi had never been one for rational thought, and so the thought really hadn't occurred to him.

They had made plans to spend the day together—Shinichi had offered to treat her, saying that it was a day for her. Just after the whole story about Conan had come crashing out into the open, he had sworn to her that he would make it up to her, even if it took him the rest of his life. A subtle reference to the fact that he wouldn't _mind_ spending the rest of his life with her, really…

His only stipulation was that they go anywhere _except_ Tropical Land. Ran had readily agreed.

So first was some shopping—not Shinichi's favorite activity in the world (he couldn't even count all the times he had been bodily dragged around by Ran and Sonoko while stuck as Conan), but the fact that Ran readily agreed to spend an entire day with him was a good sign. So he went along with nary a protest.

And his first opportunity to try and carry through on his promise to himself—that he would at least give Ran a kiss on the cheek before the day was out—came while she was flipping through a clothing rack, looking at something blue and strappy (which Shinichi did not mind at all). Her eyes were focused on the clothes. No one was around or looking…

Shinichi unobtrusively leaned in under the pretense of peering over her shoulder to look at the clothing in question. He turned his head and started to lean…

…and she moved to look at something on another display, and he nearly fell into the clothing rack. Fortunately, he caught himself and straightened up just in time to strike a nonchalant pose when Ran turned around to throw him a quizzical Look.

"What?" he said innocently, trailing after her towards the shoe department.

_The horror…_

* * *

His next chance presented itself during lunch. Not a swanky place, but nice enough. _Date_ nice, he privately thought, but there was no way in _hell_ he was going to say that to Ran just yet. Yes, he was being a total chicken about this, but he was rather fond of life with all of his body parts intact…and for that matter, at the size they were supposed to be, thank you very much! 

And no, that doesn't sound dirty at all…

She was leaning over the table, reading her menu. All he had to do was lean down a bit, and he could swoop in and give her that kiss on the cheek. Taking a deep breath, he leaned in…just a few more inches, and he was home free…

…and then Ran straightened up suddenly, catching Shinichi right in the face.

He yelped and flew back, practically leaping out of his chair. His hands instantly clutched at his nose (which sort of felt broken…), while lots and lots of pretty stars did little dances in front of his eyes.

"Ohmigod, Shinichi!" Ran reached to him. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't even know you were behind me!" Upon prying his hands away and finding that his nose was bleeding, she fished into a purse for her handkerchief. "Why were you reading over my shoulder, anyway?"

"Sorry," Shinichi mumbled—though he was pinching his nose to stop the bleeding, and so it came out a bit more like 'Sowee,' only a lot more nasal. And he somewhat grudgingly let Ran administer her own patented remedy of a handkerchief to his bloody nose while he was mentally beating himself over the head with one of Hattori's katanas.

* * *

They were back at the shops, and Ran had dragged him into a bookstore. And now she was leaning against a wall, reading a book—some romance thing, with a muscular shirtless guy embracing a buxom female on the front. And again, nobody was watching.

Shinichi inched his way towards her, trying not to draw too much attention to himself. After all, he couldn't exactly pretend to be reading over her shoulder, considering her current choice of reading material. So he just kind of meandered, pretending to have his nose buried in the depths of _The Sign of Four._

He stopped next to her. "Whatcha reading?"

"Smut novel," she said, not moving her eyes from the page.

"That stuff's trash."

"I know."

"So why are you reading it?"

"It's _hot_ trash."

He opted not to answer that—none of the replies flitting through his mind would score him any points with his lady-love, he decided. So he slowly turned his head. She was focused solely on the book.

Shinichi leaned in…

…and she moved, walking away.

_Okay, she's either doing this on purpose, or somebody up there reeeeeeeeally hates me, _Shinichi thought wryly as found himself kissing the store's hideous purple and brown wallpaper. _Hello, wall. Pleased to make your acquaintance._

* * *

Another opportunity arose later. It was a lovely day, and so Ran suggested a walk. The flowers were in full bloom in the park, so that seemed like the natural place to go. Shinichi readily agreed.

It was beautiful out, indeed, and everything seemed to be in the swing of spring.

As they walked along, Ran's hand brushed against Shinichi's, and he instantly went into the mode of _Ohmigod is this a signal what do I do if I do the wrong thing she'll deck me ohmigod heeeeeeeeelp…_

Eventually, he told the panicky part of his mind to go to hell, and he reached out and let his own fingers brush against hers. It was like a silent question—_is it all right if I do this?_ Her hand touched his again in answer—what _do you think, moron? I'm sending you signals here!_ Thus reassured, he slid his hand into hers, threading his fingers between hers in a comfortable hold.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her smile and blush. It was incredibly endearing.

They'd reached a more secluded area of the park by now. A glance around proved that no one else was in viewing range—alone, for all intents and purposes. Swallowing hard, Shinichi turned to look at her. He started to inch his head in…

…her hair caught him square in the face as she whipped her head around. "Look! A squirrel!"

And Shinichi found himself staring at her hair. Long, dark brown tresses, the color of chocolate. His fingers positively itched to touch it and feel it—he would have bet money that it was like silk. And it was so…so…_shiny_…

"Shinichi?" Ran snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. "Wake up!"

He shook off the hypnotic trance of the shininess. "What?"

She pointed again. "Squirrel. Cuteness. Look."

"Oh…right," he chuckled weakly. Mentally, he was kicking himself.

* * *

"You've been acting really weird today," Ran commented casually, flipping cabinets open in her search for the perfect seasoning. They had arrived back at the Mouri residence late to find a very irate (and hungry) Kogoro demanding dinner. Rolling her eyes at his natural immaturity, she apologized to Shinichi as she set about fixing something to appease her father's bear-like appetite.

As she was digging around in the cupboard, a bottle of something fell from the shelf and bounced to the floor, rolling across the floor to stop at Shinchi's feet. He stooped to pick it up and absently read the label—calcium pills—as he handed it back. "How so?"

"Well…" she said thoughtfully, turning back to the pan on the stove. "You keep looking at me weird. I know you well enough to know that there's something on your mind. And you keep falling over and running into walls and stuff. You haven't been that awkward since you were fourteen."

He cringed at those particular memories. Puberty was a subconscious reason that he had been so desperate to get back to normal. He'd gone through those lovely teenage years once as Shinichi already; he did NOT need to go through them again as Conan.

Plus, add a thirteen-year-old hormone-ridden body with Shinichi's, ahem, imagination and occasionally ecchi thoughts…no one would be safe. Bad idea, abort mission, danger Will Robinson.

She had found what she was looking for in the cabinet, and had turned to the counter to measure it out. The Idiot (otherwise known as Kogoro) was nowhere in sight. He just had to move behind her…

…and then she turned, measuring spoon in hand, and ran into him, and he wound up with a faceful of what smelled suspiciously like chili powder for his troubles.

Shinichi sneezed.

* * *

"The stars are beautiful tonight," she commented.

"Yeah…" Shinichi replied noncommittally. Of course, he was feeling more than a little frustrated at the moment. All day, he had been trying to kiss Ran, and it Just. Wasn't. Working!

His eyes slid sideways to look at her. There she was, just sitting there beside him. Side by side, just as they should always be. She seemed completely unaware of what she was doing to him—innocent almost to the point of naivety. That was Ran. _His_ Ran, thank you, and no one else's.

Her eyes were trailing after a firefly off to the side, so he had a lovely view of the back of her head once again. He desperately wanted to kiss her, but no matter how lovely (and oh-so-shiny…) her hair was, he had a feeling that it wouldn't taste too good, nor would it convey the appropriate message.

He thought about it for a moment before he took a leap of faith and said, "Hey. Look up."

She did so, and he could see her expression was somewhat confused.

He smiled, leaning in just a bit. "Now look to the right."

She obeyed…and they were nose-to-nose.

And Shinichi didn't wait. He'd waited before, for far too long, and it had cost him. He learned from his mistakes. So he seized his opportunity when it presented itself, and dipped his head down to catch her lips with his own in a quick, chaste kiss.

He kept it short, pulling back after only a second. But it was enough to set his heart pattering faster than Michael Flatley's best routine. And he watched her face carefully, nervously, for any sign of a reaction. Actually, he was more looking for a sign that he was going to live long enough to tell his family he loved them one last time.

Had the situation not been so precarious (to his mind, at least), he would have laughed at the bewildered expression on Ran's face. She looked so adorably confused, with her cheeks all flushed and eyes wide as tires.

Shinichi swallowed hard, and decided to take a calculated risk. "Soooooo…whatcha doing Friday night?" Mentally, he crossed his fingers and chanted to himself _Please don't hit me please don't hurt me please please please don't say no…_

Ran paused, studying him carefully for what felt like eons and eons…and smiled, a grin bright enough to light up the entire Tokyo skyline. "Well, based on the events of the last sixty seconds, I would say I'm going out with you."

He grinned. "So I'll get to kiss you goodnight then, right?"

"I think it's a possibility," she answered, blushing. Suddenly, comprehension dawned, and she raised an eyebrow at him. "So, all day today, when you kept running into stuff and leaning over me…?"

"Yeah," he said; now it was his turn to blush. "You're really hard to corner, you know that?"

"You could have just asked," Ran pointed out.

Shinichi blinked. "Now why the hell didn't I think of that?"

* * *

**PS. **_I've said on more than one occasion that I get a lot of ideas while I'm in the shower. This is one such story—there I am, washing my hair, and voila, inspiration. Maybe it's the smell of that Sweet Pea and Violet-scented stuff or something…but anyway, yay! Finished another one! Hope you liked it—Shinichi's just fun to torment a bit. Much love!_


	8. Lesson Learned

**Title:** Lesson Learned  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#21—_violence_; pillage/plunder; extortion  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

Where was he, exactly? 

The first thing that Shinichi became aware of as his eyes fluttered open was the fact that he did not know where he was. The ceiling was definitely not one in his home, nor was the bed beneath his back. Furthermore, there was a strange buzzing noise in his ears, and he could hear something beeping. He couldn't place any of it—the sights or the sounds—because the whole world looked like he was viewing it through a veil. It was all hazy.

The second thing he realized through the fog was that he hurt. Hurt, hurt, _hurt_. The front of his face felt like a donkey was kicking him in the nose—except he couldn't actually _feel_ his nose. He just assumed it was still there on principle. His eyes would barely open, and as he fought to try and figure things out, he noticed that something on his face was _extremely_ swollen—like, size of a cabbage swollen.

Finally, he noticed the people walking around him were wearing white coats. Doctors?

Wait a minute—even through everything else, his well-trained detective's mind went to work with the vague clues he'd collected, like locking the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle into place. Doctors. Beeping. In a bed. Unfamiliar place. Massive amounts of hurting. Was he in the hospital?

Okay, so he was in a hospital. This brought about question number two: _why_ was he in the hospital? Then he reasoned that perhaps it had something to do with the agonizing state of his face.

Then he noticed that someone was sitting beside his bed, bawling. He turned his head, and through the clearing haze, he could make out Ran, sitting there crying with her face in her hands. And he could hear her sobbing something that sounded suspiciously like, "I killed him. Oh my God, I killed him. I killed Shinichi, oh my god…"

"Ran?" he murmured, and regretted it instantly. Moving his jaw up and down to voice the single word sent the jackhammers and war-drums pounding in his head, and dammit, his face hurt! But then why the hell was his nose numb?

Her head snapped up at the sound of her name, and her tear-filled eyes widened as she noticed he was conscious. "Shinichi! You're awake! Oh, thank God…I was so worried!" He could actually feel the relief pouring off of her.

"What happened?" he mumbled, trying desperately to ignore his splitting headache.

Ran looked faintly uncomfortable. "You…don't remember?"

"Not really," he replied. At that point, he was hurting enough that he could barely remember his own name, let alone how he had wound up in the hospital with some sort of bizarre growth on his face the size of a large grapefruit.

"Well…you said something that really made me mad…" she shifted nervously.

Shinichi tried to think back…

_He was walking home from school with Ran, just like they did every day. They were talking, having a conversation about whatever random topic had come up. They walked past the park, doing their best to ignore some college-looking couple very much involved in a heavy make-out session on a bench (though Shinichi's mind did wander a bit at that point). He had turned around, and he said something, he laughed, he heard Ran growl…_

"And I mean, I was really, _really_ mad," Ran went on, her fingers knitting together in what he easily recognized as a nervous habit of hers, "and I didn't really think, I just got pissed off, and I took a really good swing at you. I was aiming for the side of your head, but then you turned your head at the wrong moment, and…"

_Ran was growling. Never a good sign. He heard the whoosh of displaced air, and turned to see what was up. The last thing he remembered was seeing a clenched fist coming right at his face at rocket-fast speed. His last coherent thought was OH CRAP…_

"And I kind of hit you in the face, and…well, you fell over and didn't get up, and your nose started bleeding and swelling up, and I wasn't even sure if you were breathing or anything," she barreled on, now gesturing wildly with her hands. "So I called an ambulance, and you're in the hospital now." She finally paused. "Do you remember anything at all?"

Shinichi thought. And thought. What in the world had he said that had gotten her so riled up? It had to have been something really big—it wasn't uncommon for her to take swings at his head and all, but for it to be with actual intent to hurt him was something else entirely.

What had he said…?

_Oh_.

Oh yeah.

Now he remembered…apparently that was not something one said to Ran—or was it to females in general, he wondered? But either way, if it was such blasphemy, then why was he still alive, exactly? And perhaps more importantly, why was the lady-love ofhis life so damn violent?

"Umm…yeah," he murmured, trying desperately to ignore the pain in his face. This explained why his nose was swollen up to the size of a head of lettuce. "Yeah, I remember." There was a pause before he added meekly, "…sorry?"

Ran thought about it for a second, then nodded. "Yeah, I nearly killed you. We're even. But," her eyes narrowed, "if you ever do it again, I will break a lot more than your nose, Shinichi. Understood?"

"Clear," he sighed. "My face feels so broken…"

And that was the day that Kudo Shinichi learned a very important lesson for life. That day, he learned that if a man wants to live to a ripe old age, he should never, ever, _ever_, under any circumstances, even as an offhanded remark, even jokingly, ever, ever, _ever_ make a comment—_any_ sort of comment—about a woman's weight.

Especially if that woman is a regional karate champion with an extremely short temper and the ability to smash said man's nose with one blow should such a comment be made.

* * *

**PS. **_Shinichi is so easy to pick on. I know I'm tormenting him, but I love him so. I love this challenge because it gives me the opportunity to actually have a good use for these **really** random scenes that appear in my head that won't fit in anywhere else. This was…kind of stupid in hindsight, but the mental image wouldn't leave me alone, I had to put it somewhere._

_BTW, **Fyliwion** gave me an omake for the previous chapter—the one in which Shinichi is trying to kiss Ran, and she keeps moving away without meaning to. So here you go, a really short follow-up. Thanks, Fyliwion-chan, much love to you!

* * *

_

Shinichi sighed as he watched Ran. She was just standing there, chopping vegetables at the counter, totally unaware of his intentions. Then again, if she knew what was going through his head, she probably would have broken both his arms—and then possibly a few vertebrae, just for good measure.

He tiptoed up behind her. She didn't turn around, long accustomed to his presence. He felt her tense ever so slightly when he slid his arms around her waist, but she relaxed almost instantly. It took a mere push of one hand to turn her around in his arms, and a dip of his head to pull her into a kiss.

After how hard it had been to kiss her that first time, now it was pleasantly commonplace. But that had been months ago, and Shinichi had been having…thoughts. To use the classic baseball metaphor, they'd already rounded first base, so the next stop was…

But he was only thinking about it, he had no actual intention of doing anything until Ran made it clear that he was permitted to; it was suicide to do otherwise. That having been said, he hadn't meant to move his hand. Really, he hadn't. But…

Ran jerked back. "Shinichi—!" A streak of fire blazed across her eyes.

Realizing his mistake and thinking very fast, Shinichi swallowed hard. After all, she had a very sharp knife right behind her on the cutting board, within easy reach, not to mention the fact that Ran could probably murder him with her bare hands anyway. "Ummm…there was a bug on your chest?"

_**SLAP!

* * *

**_

_Could not help it._ _Must pick on Shinichi. Thanks for reading—much love to all!_


	9. Wild Goose Chase

**Title:** Wild Goose Chase  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#2—news; letter  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

When Ran woke up that morning, she rolled over to look at the time…and found her view of her clock unexpectedly obstructed by a small white card sitting on her nightstand, propped up against the small time apparatus. With a slight groan of protest at actually having to think so soon after waking up, she sat up in bed and stretched her arms over her head in a long, satisfying yawn. 

She rubbed at her eyes in an effort to banish the last remnants of sleep before picking up the small piece of paper, folded in half so it stood tent-like on the nightstand. Her name was written on the front in a handwriting she knew all too well.

Now suspicious (and a bit amused), she opened the paper. Her eyes scanned over the words written there in that same neat, familiar handwriting. It was only then that her brow furrowed while she tried to figure out what the hell it was talking about.

_First thing in the morning, can be a pain  
__Gotta go here so Dad won't complain_

She stared blankly at the message. Well, if that wasn't cryptic, she didn't know what was.

But Ran hadn't spent her whole life around detectives and police without picking up some critical thinking skills. When they were in elementary school and had to do these kind of logic problems, Shinichi had always told her to just take the clue one part at a time.

Okay. _First thing in the morning_—something she did shortly after waking up, or a part of her morning routine. _Can be a pain_—something she sometimes got annoyed with? But if it said that it only 'could be' a pain, which meant that it was possibly something she usually enjoyed.

Good deal, making progress. _Gotta go here_—that meant a place, didn't it? And if it was something she did in the morning, then this was leading her to a place in her own home, she could assume. Right? Right. Okay. But it was that last part—_so Dad won't complain_—that had her a bit on the baffled side. Okay, time to put it together. Something she did in the morning that she usually enjoyed, but if she didn't do it, her father would get irritated.

_Click_.

Still holding the little white card, Ran headed out of her room and down the stairs to the kitchen. She felt more than a little silly, but that's what she got when she put the clues together. Every morning, she fixed breakfast—if she didn't, her father pitched a hissy-fit.

She looked around, slightly confused as to what she was supposed to be looking for. Nothing seemed out of place at first glance. But then she spotted another card propped up innocently on the counter. She picked it up; sure enough, her name was written clearly on the front.

Now _extremely_ curious, Ran flipped it open to find another riddle.

_The one thing I fear all the time  
__Is that you'll decide to keep me in line  
__A place where you gained the art of fights  
__And the ability forever to put out my lights_

Ooooooookay…what did that mean, exactly?

As she stood there, staring at the second card bearing Shinichi's handwriting and a odd riddle, she found herself thinking back over all the times they had sat here in this kitchen together. So many times they had crowded around the table, playing games (when they were younger), doing homework (as they grew up), or just shooting the breeze. How many times had he taken a seat at that table and just watched her run around, stirring this and checking on that and simmering the other thing?

Even now, as Ran's eyes grazed past the table and chairs, she could envision Shinichi sitting there, one elbow propped up on the table, his chin resting in his hand, a smile on his face as he observed her. It always made her so happy to think about him.

But it seemed as though Shinichi had set out a little game for her. The purpose remained to be seen as of yet, but Ran smirked to herself. So the great detective was challenging her? All right. She would play along and see what came of it.

She turned her attention back to the riddle. She reread it, and chuckled. This one wasn't really much of a challenge, but just what it said and the insinuations therein amused her to no end. It was true, after all, very true. The fact that she could clobber him if he mad her angry was almost a running gag, a long-standing joke of their relationship.

Belatedly, Ran realized that she was still in her pajamas. But it looked like she was going to be out for a while. Taking both cards with her, she turned and dashed back up the stairs with intent to take a quick shower and then head out on this little adventure.

In record time, she was scrubbed down and dressed in a pale blue sundress and pastel yellow cardigan—a recent gift from Sonoko. Sandals firmly on her feet, cards tucked safely into the purse over her shoulder, she shouted a quick goodbye to her father before heading out the door. Ironically enough, in her haste to leave, she completely ignored her father's protests that he wanted breakfast.

_

* * *

_

Ran had started attending the karate dojo when she was very young. Though she no longer attended (having fairly well mastered the art), she had spent many an hour there, going at a punching bag, and she had worked devilishly to perfect her moves and attacks. Her present skills spoke for themselves.

It was to this place that she now went. It was closed today, though, and she stopped at the door, frowning. If Shinichi had left a message for her there, where would it be?

Her eyes drifted over to the bulletin board hanging by the door as she tried to think…and those selfsame eyes widened in surprise. There, pinned to the board, on top of the karate competition poster and the babysitting flyer, was a small white card with her name on the front.

"Bingo!" she cheered happily, pulling out the pushpin and claiming her prize. She eagerly opened the card to see just what was waiting for her inside this time. She was only mildly surprised to find another riddle staring her in the face.

_Beneath a roof and windows of glass  
__Resides your favorite pain in the ass  
__A lifetime lived behind a front door  
__You never even knock anymore_

She snickered. Only one place that could be! Not hard at all!

As she stuck the card in her purse with its two brothers, she turned and looked up at the dojo building. Once upon a time, Shinichi had taken karate with her at this very place. She hadn't thought about it in ages, but when they were children, they used to spar together for fun. It was all in good fun, just a chance to practice, and no one ever got hurt beyond the occasional cut or bruise.

Those friendly sparring matches had come to a rather abrupt stop one day when Shinichi's father had walked by just as Shinichi had managed to land a rather good punch on Ran. This had led to a long lecture on gentlemanly behavior, and the next day, Shinichi had told her that he wasn't allowed to fight with her anymore because gentlemen weren't supposed to hit girls.

Later on, Shinichi had given up karate in favor of playing soccer fulltime, while she had continued with her training. But even though he didn't participate anymore, she could count the number of matches and competitions that he had missed on one hand. He had always been there to see her win. In fact, it was because she had won one of those tournaments that they had gone to Tropical Land that day.

Conan…it still tugged at Ran's heart a bit when she thought of the little boy she had taken in and adopted as her little brother. She'd had so many adventures with that child, told him so many secrets…only to find out that it was Shinichi. That had broken her heart, and nearly torn her away from her best friend—from the man she loved—forever.

But the more she thought about it, the more she remembered and realized that even though Shinichi himself hadn't been able to be there, Conan had been her small shadow, always cheering her up and rooting for her from the sidelines, calling her with his true voice when he knew that she had reached her breaking point to try and help.

He had done the best he could in a really awful situation. Once she had realized that fact, and understood the reasons…it hit her how much it had hurt _him_. And finally grasping that fact had sent her flying to his doorstep in tears, and the moment he was back to himself, flying into arms that had been waiting for her, wide open. And the months that had passed since then had been so very, very beautiful.

But speaking of Shinichi's doorstep…

_

* * *

_  
The gate creaked slightly as they opened, giving Ran time to slip through before they closed with a metallic clang. Humming to herself, she strolled up the walkway, a path she had walked countless times before. And true to form, as Shinichi had so happily pointed out in the note, she didn't even bother to knock. She was certain that he wasn't there. 

"Hello?" she called as she stepped inside. "Anyone home?" Her words echoed ever so slightly in the hollow hallways; otherwise, it was silent. Sure enough, he wasn't there. Not that she expected him to be. She had a feeling that this game wasn't over quite yet.

But if he was holding true to form—and she saw no reason that he wouldn't—the letter with her next clue should be sitting right out in the open, just waiting for her to find it.

Aha! There it was—on the table right by the phone.

With a now-practiced ease, she flipped the note open and read the new riddle.

_Waking up is never a cinch  
__But this will give you a buzz in a pinch  
__Stop after school or stop on the way  
__This jive will get you through the day_

She smiled in spite of the relative stupidity of it all. Good grief, her best friend-now-boyfriend was a hopeless nerd. But that was just one of the things she loved about him, and always had.

Again, her eyes found themselves straying to her surroundings. Without really meaning to, she started walking, drifting away from the stand with the phone. She wandered around the ground floor, room to room, finding a wealth of memories in each room.

The kitchen—Shinichi had called her once in a panic for help after he had somehow managed, while using the microwave, to set the curtains on fire. This was especially amazing because the torched curtains were on the other side of the room. It was truly amazing: Shinichi could boil water, but when things were floating in it, cooking, he just got so confused.

The library—the site of many a homework session, and the spot where she had first met Conan, now that she thought about it. When she and Shinichi were younger, the ladders that stretched up to the top shelves had provided many an hour of potentially dangerous fun for two energetic children. One favorite game had been using them as slides, a game that resulted in many a bruise.

The living room—they had gotten yelled at on more than one occasion as youngsters for jumping on the furniture there. As they'd grown up, though, screaming and bouncing on couch cushions had given way to calmer evenings spent sprawled on the couch, reading, watching movies, or what-have-you. And in more recent months, lazy afternoons passed curled together in the quiet comfort of just being together.

So much had happened between them. It was so amazing to know they'd come this far.

With a shake of her head, she pulled back to the present. That was enough woolgathering for one day—back to the puzzle at hand. Waking up, a buzz…a _jive_? Someplace she would go after school? She stared, frowning, until the light bulb went on. That had to be it!

She walked back towards the entryway, reading back over the note before she moved to slip it into her purse to become part of the rest of her ever-growing collection. It was then that she noticed a scrawl on the back, and flipped it over to read it.

_PS. Check the machine._

Frowning, she looked at the answering machine. Sure enough, the light was flashing. With a shrug, she pressed the playback button and listened. She was only mildly surprised when Shinichi's voice cheered over the speaker.

"Hey, Ran," he said, "just wanted to let you know you've reached the halfway point. Hope you're hanging in there—I planned this just for you. You're doing great! Keep going! See you soon. Love you." And then the machine beeped and went silent.

And she smiled again. A hopeless nerd. That was Shinichi. _Her_ Shinichi, the man she'd fallen for.

_

* * *

_

There was a particular coffee shop that had opened when Ran and Shinichi were in their second year of middle school. It wasn't a big or fancy place, but it was a friendly, cozy atmosphere, with good drinks and equally good snacks. The two friends had been taken with the place from the moment they had first set foot in the door, frequently stopping there after school.

It was to this little café that Ran now headed, having translated Shinichi's riddle to refer to it.

She walked in and waved at one of the waitresses who she knew on a first-name basis. Then she looked around. Where would he have left it? Every other place, it had been left right out in the open. But there really wasn't anywhere here that would work. So where…

"Excuse me, Ran-san?"

Ran turned to see the waitress she knew standing beside her. "Oh, Hikaru-san!"

Then she saw that Hikaru was holding out a small, folded piece of crisp white paper to her. The waitress grinned broadly. "A very charming, handsome young man came in earlier and asked me to personally deliver this to you when you got here." She gave Ran a conspiratorial wink. "But I'm not supposed to tell you anything else."

Ran laughed and thanked her. Hikaru bounced back to work, and Ran claimed a seat on the end of one of the big, comfy couches to read the newest note. She was developing quite a collection of these.

_A favorite of favorites, an obsession or craze  
__Where we studied during our school days_

Ran sighed at the riddle, and let her eyes wander over the warm golden paint, dark wooden paneling, and pictures on the walls. She paid special attention to one wall in particular, a section that was painted pale yellow, and covered with writing. This was a segment of the wall that many called the Couples' Corner, where a couple could write their names and "make it official." As this was a place popular with teenagers and college students, it had become a much-loved tradition.

Inching closer, she reached out and slid her fingers over one set of names. Mouri Ran and Kudo Shinichi. They had inscribed that there one night, several months ago. That night…

Ran smiled softly, remembering. It had been not long after Shinichi had come back to her for good and they had started officially dating. They'd written their names on the wall in marker just as they were leaving, to the sound of applause. Regulars at the place knew what the wall meant, and new additions were always acclaimed; Ran herself remembered cheering on more than one occasion for just such a thing.

And now, as she stepped outside, she paused in front of the large front window.

This was the spot where they had first kissed.

One magical moment…also spent blissfully ignoring the café occupants watching through the window, all of whom had seen the young couple sign their names to the wall. The diners in the coffee shop all clapped and cheered loudly enough that they could hear it straight through the glass. Ran ignored them in favor of what was right in front of her.

Sighing happily at her most treasured memory, she looked back down at the card in her hand.

A favorite of favorites? Where we studied? Then it clicked, and she realized how big of a no-brainer that one really was. Especially for someone who knew Shinichi as well as she did.

_

* * *

_

This, Ran reflected, was by far the easiest wild goose chase she had ever been on.

She darted up the steps into the library nearest her house. She knew this place like the back of her hand; after all, this was the library that she and Shinichi had always frequented for their scholarly and research needs. A quick check at the computer catalogue was all it took, and she was off into the rows and rows of shelves in search of her prize.

"Let's see…" she mumbled to herself, dragging her finger across the row of spines. "There you are!" Triumphantly, she withdrew the one she had been seeking: _The Sign of Four_. Sure enough, a white card, the same as the others, fell loose and tumbled to the floor at her feet.

"Score for me!" she cheered, picking it up and eagerly reading the next clue.

_Mark as the seasons continue to change  
__Lead to a conclusion not so strange  
__A precious place we've long since had  
__Of memories shared, both good and bad_

Ran stared at the riddle for a long moment before it clicked. Of course—that had to be it.

Sherlock Holmes…Shinichi's favorite. That's how she had deciphered the riddle and known where to go. _The Sign of Four _was Shinichi's favorite amongst his favorites, those being all of Doyle's novels. It was one of those things that was so very easy to predict about him.

In the days since his return, he had actually gotten better about sharing his mystery obsession. Granted, he still rushed off to solve his cases (though she could usually get a very nice apology later), and he still shared with her whatever the details were of his latest case. But she had come to treasure those details more and more—it was Shinichi. Just one of his quirks.

And the Holmes babble had actually slowed a bit. Not that Ran minded it in small doses—which was more along the lines of what she was getting from him now. But those irritating long-winded explanations of "Why Sherlock Holmes Should Be King of the World" were now things of the past.

Not that she ever would have admitted it to him, but by the time she had gotten him back, she would have honestly listened to him prattle about Holmes for a month straight if it had meant that he was back, in person. If it meant that he wouldn't disappear yet again.

She shook off her reminiscence. They had both grown up…in more ways then one. In Shinichi's case, it was actually physically. But mentally, emotionally—they had survived hell, and come out far more mature and far wiser for it. And what could have torn them apart had actually brought them together once and for all. They had survived the Conan fiasco sound and whole; they could survive anything.

But back to the task at hand. She knew where she was going next, and unless she had missed by a long shot, her answer should be waiting for her there. Their most precious place.

Adding the card to the continually-growing collection in her purse, she replaced the book on the shelf and left the library with as much decorum as she could muster. But the minute she was on the sidewalk, she took off at a dead run. She knew exactly where she was going.

_

* * *

_  
Ran sprinted through the park's main gates, heading towards what she knew was the final spot—she had figured that the clue could only mean one place. She'd run all over town. She should have known that eventually, she would wind up here. 

There was a certain sakura tree in the park that she and Shinichi had claimed as "theirs" a long time ago. Even when they were children, that had always been their meeting spot, their special place, the place they would go to sit for whatever reason. If there was ever a place for them that referred to the changing of seasons and "memories shared," that would be it.

Not all the memories of that tree were necessarily good, though. The day her mother had left, she had run there in tears. And somehow, Shinichi had come to her there; he had walked by, whether by a tip-off, intuition, or sheer dumb luck. They had been there for a long time while she cried out her heartbreak to him. That was back before she had _really_ realized just how much he meant to her…

But if she was reading it right, then this was it. It had said that it would lead to a conclusion, after all. And so she flew towards her destination, now certain that she was finally going to find out exactly what was going on here and why he'd set this up.

There were surprisingly few people in the park for that time of the afternoon. And the people who were there paid little attention to the young woman running amidst them. Those that did saw that she was flushed prettily with excitement and exertion, her long hair streaming behind her like a chocolate-colored banner. She ran with little regard for her purse banging against her knees.

The tree came into view. Pink sakura blossoms drifted on the breeze, caught in the sunlight. It was so very picturesque. Ran steps quickened even further as it drew closer. She was so close to whatever prize was waiting for her there. She had to get there…

Finally, she skidded to a halt, feeling the grass give slightly beneath her feet. She was panting for breath, but not noticing it overly much; her attention was more focused on the figure leaning against the tree, waiting for her. With slower, slightly shakier steps, she moved into the shadow cast by the branches overhead, moving towards that person.

Shinichi watched her with a soft smile. He cut a fine figure, in khakis and a light blue button-up against the pale pink of the sakura blossoms. He was leaning against the tree, one hand stuffed casually into his pocket, the other hanging by his side, holding a bouquet of bright red roses.

"You found me," Shinichi said happily as she drew nearer; he watched as she came closer, finally moving into arm's length. And without another word, he offered her the roses.

She reached out with both hands to accept them; the smile that shone on her face was nothing short of brilliant, brighter than the sun itself. She buried her face in the roses, inhaling deeply to breathe in the sweet, sweet fragrance. The deep crimson petals brushed against her skin, a contrast to the faint pink flush painting her cheeks and the blossoms. All in all, at that moment Ran made for a very pretty picture.

After a moment, she looked back up at him, her eyes sparkling with happiness. "Shinichi…" He was still somewhat shy when it came to being really sweet and romantic, but every once in a while, he still managed to pull the rug out from under her in ways she had never imagined.

"Did you like the game?" he asked. "Remembering?"

And finally, it clicked. The places she had been sent running to. Her house. The coffee shop. His house. The dojo. The library. And now the sakura tree. Their special places. Their precious memories. Their life together. Every place she had gone, she had found herself remembering the many, many ways their lives had intertwined as they had grown up.

After all, they had always been together. Even when she didn't know it.

One of his hands slid up her arm to cup her cheek while the other covered her hands around the rose stems, and he leaned against her; she felt the tree trunk, blessedly solid, beneath her back. A dip of his head was all it took to claim her for one loving kiss. The bouquet was trapped between them, but Ran suddenly didn't mind if they were a little bit squished.

When he finally relinquished his possessive hold on her lips, it was by a mere inch. And then he caught her eyes with his own, and smiled, knowing that she finally understood what he had done and why she had been led on what had initially seemed nothing more than a wild goose chase—he had given her the gift of their most precious memories.

* * *

**PS. **_The fluff…the fluff eats at meeeeeee! This ended up a LOT longer than I had originally anticipated, but overall, I'm very pleased with the results. The hardest part was writing those riddles, though._

_I send this chapter out to **sapphirestars**, who writes some AWESOME Shinichi/Ran stuff. Go read! Much love!_


	10. The View

**Title:** The View  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#17—kHz (kilohertz)  
**Rating: **PG-13 (mildly suggestive)  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

Ran liked to look. Not that she would ever actually admit it, but it was pleasant to observe sometimes. So, from her vantage point at the table in Shinichi's kitchen, she did just that. 

Shinichi was standing at the counter, bustling around, fixing them a gourmet afternoon snack of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Hey, he may have been a great detective, but letting him anywhere near a microwave (or anything that produced fire or heart, for that matter) was generally a very bad idea. He was definitely in a good mood, though. She knew because he was humming to himself, and she smiled, in spite of the fact that it was horrendously out of tune.

He didn't seem to be paying a whole lot of attention to her at the moment, as his focus was on the difficult culinary task at hand—after all, spreading the peanut butter _juuuuust_ right took a great amount of concentration, apparently. So she had an excellent opportunity to simply look.

This wasn't the first time she had noted this particular fact, but Shinichi was definitely a handsome guy. Even her view of the back and side of his head allowed her to take a good solid look at him. The dark hair, features that shone of his mother's genetic influence, and the eyes…

She probably could have spent an entire day on the eyes alone. Beautiful blue, so deep she could go swimming in them, and since his return, Sonoko had teased, those eyes had been only for Ran. As much as she'd denied it, Shinichi had made it quite clear that he had eyes for her and her alone.

Ran's boyfriend was a very good-looking young man.

_And all mine! _her possessive side declared gleefully. She told it to hush up.

Her own eyes traced down the back of his neck, down to his shoulders. A favorite pillow, she thought with a smile. He had once jokingly complained that he was nothing more than her personal piece of furniture. She had smiled and told him to stop moving because she was comfortable, leaning against him.

Down his neck to his back—he gave good piggy-back rides…especially when she'd tripped and sprained her ankle that once. He had even managed to not tease her too much about it until he'd gotten her home. Once she was on crutches and couldn't actually chase him, he'd had a field day. But she always got him in the end. She managed not to laugh out loud at _that_ set of memories.

From his back to follow the line of his arms—she absolutely loved the way those arms felt around her—down to his hands. Slender, graceful fingers that at the moment were diligently dispersing purple jelly onto the peanut butter. How many times had she walked along with her fingers intertwined in his? How many times had those fingers threaded themselves through her hair?

She sighed happily at the thoughts. Then her eyes began to wander again, going where they wanted; she wasn't really thinking anymore, just ogling. Trouble was that they stopped to linger over one particular area, and seemed to have gotten rather stuck.

And while her eyes were super glued to that specific spot, Shinichi just happened to glance back over his shoulder with the intention of announcing that the food preparations were completed. Instead, he got quite a surprise.

Not that she actually noticed. She was far, far off in La La Land.

"Ran?"

She stared, vaguely hearing someone saying her name.

"Ran?"

Blink.

"Ran!"

The tap on her forehead finally brought her back to the realm of reality, and she shook her head to clear her thoughts. Then she looked up at the source of the tap on her skull: Shinichi, who had poked her with one hand while he set the plate of completed sandwiches down on the table by her elbow. "So, you like what you see, or what?" he leered.

"Yeah…I mean—!" she clapped her hands over her mouth. Suddenly, Ran became acutely aware of exactly where she had been staring. She also became painfully aware of the fact that Shinichi was standing over her, hands on his waist, a sizable smirk crossing that smug little face of his.

"Uh-huh…" he quirked a brow. "Now if I got caught doing that to you, you'd break both my arms. Ran, Ran, Ran…" He sat down, shaking his head in mock-disappointment. Then he stopped and grinned. "I'm sorry, should I stand? Don't want to obstruct your view or anything."

In one of her science classes, a teacher had told them that the human heart usually beats at about 1.2 hertz. Right now, Ran's was undoubtedly racing at about twenty kilohertz in its efforts to jump out of her chest and run away from home. She decided that now was a good time to make an in-depth study of the counter. On the other side of the room.

Shinichi stared at the side of her head for a minute, then started to laugh. "Ran, the look on your face…" He leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Don't burst into flames on me or anything." She still looked absolutely mortified, so he held up one of the confections he had so lovingly prepared. "Here, have a sandwich and be distracted."

Ran slowly accepted the proffered snack and bit into it. It was delicious—hmmm, grape jelly, her favorite. But she could still feel Shinichi's eyes on her, and she knew that he was still laughing at her. It was just so embarrassing!

"So, Ran…" he said after a minute, in a far-too-casual tone, "Isn't turnabout fair play?"

She finally looked straight at him. It took a second before it clicked and she understood what he meant. Her eyes narrowed into a glare that could have killed a lesser man, taking his smug little grin square in the face. "Shinichi. You're going to have to start kissing some serious ass first. End of discussion."

* * *

**PS. **_I don't know why this idea amused me so much. I really don't. But it did. Yes, I made Ran into a lovesick moose, but I keep picking on Shinichi, so I felt it was time to mess with Ran for a change. The 1.2 hertz for the human heart thing? Found on Wikipedia while I was looking up kilohertz. Funny, huh?  
_

_Dedicated with much love to my dear friend Cassandra Lynn._ _She doesn't watch anime (poor girl), but the title and, ahem, concept are part of a long-time running gag between us (by long-running, I mean since freshmen year of high school, and we're now juniors in college), so I send this little crack-fic out to her._

_In regards to the last chapter: I was about THIS close to having Shinichi propose. But I didn't. Guess everyone wishes he had. (shrug) What can ya do, I s'pose. Thanks, everyone! Much love!_


	11. Alternate Communication

**Title:** Alternate Communication  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#5—"ano sa" ("hey, you know…")  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

It was just a normal morning. Shinichi woke up to the sound of the Alarm Clock Monster attacking him. Just like normal. It was vanquished when he picked it up and tossed it against the wall. Just like normal—well, maybe the fact that it made a crunching noise when it hit the wall, and a decidedly broken sound when it landed on the floor _wasn't_ exactly normal. Oh well, he'd been meaning to get a new one anyway. And either way, it was better than Agasa's explosions. 

A few splashes of cold water to the face and quick breakfast—most important meal of the day—did wonders to wake him up. Just like normal. In fact, he was still gnawing on the last crust of toast as he headed off in search of appropriate clothing. Minutes later, he was almost ready to go. Just like normal.

Grinning at his reflection, he opened his mouth to say something to himself, just like normal—what, don't tell me you've never had a conversation with yourself in the bathroom mirror—and was unpleasantly startled when only a few deep, strangled croaks escaped him. He closed his mouth, and frowned at the mirror.

Oooooookay, this _wasn't_ just like normal. And it certainly wasn't a good sign.

Still frowning, he finished straightening his green tie and slipped his blue uniform jacket on before giving himself a quick once-over in the mirror. There, looking good and ready to face another day at the hell-hole—err, school. And right on cue, the doorbell rang. Shoving his feet into his sneakers, he grabbed his satchel and was out the door.

Ran was waiting for him by the gate to his house. "Good morning!" she cheered when she saw him on the walkway. She stepped aside to let him out, waited while he closed and locked everything up, and they were off, on their way to school.

"You're awfully quiet this morning," Ran commented with a smile after they'd been walking for a minute or so in silence. "You're _never_ this quiet."

Shinichi looked at her and tried to say something (possibly a witty retort), but again, there were just those funny noises that came out. It sounded like a rather large toad had hopped into his room in the middle of the night, and decided to take up residence in the back of his throat.

"Uh-oh…" Ran's smile vanished to be replaced by sympathy. Acting on habit alone, she reached up to check his forehead for any signs of a temperature or fever.

Also on habit alone, Shinichi blushed.

Finding nothing to suggest illness (save for the fact that his face was now bright red), she withdrew her hand and shook her head. "Well, it's not a cold or anything. You probably just have laryngitis. It'll go away in a day or so."

Shinichi pouted. Silently, of course.

School was a decided torture. His teachers soon discovered that their star student was not going to be much of a participant, and his classmates alternated between teasing, sympathy and snickering. He quickly decided that it was not worth it, and ended up napping through the whole day, just so it would go by more quickly.

And Ran watched the whole time and smiled. Poor Shinichi…he was really having a tough time.

But finally, blessedly, the school day was over, and they were free

"You still haven't gotten your voice back?" Ran asked sympathetically as they engaged in their traditional Walk Home from the Bowels of Hell—Err, from School.

He merely shook his head sadly. As chatty as he could be, it was hard to go an entire day without the ability to speak. And just to prove his point, he let out another ribbit sound. He really hoped there wasn't a case today or anything. It would be pretty tricky to ask questions and proclaim his brilliant deductions when he sounded like a frog!

Ran giggled. "Oh, don't worry so much. I'm sure you'll be fine tomorrow."

Shinichi sighed; he looked down at her then, and frowned. There was something he had been thinking over carefully, and he had kind of wanted to mention it to her today. But the lack of cooperation from his body had pretty much left him up the creek without a paddle.

He opened his mouth and managed to croak out a barely-understandable, "Ano sa…"

Ran looked up at him questioningly, mildly surprised that he was still making an effort to speak when earlier experiments had proven that it wasn't going to work. But that was Shinichi: stubborn to a fault. "What's up?"

Shinichi frowned. His voice was decidedly broken; talking wasn't going to work today. Thinking fast, he dug into his school bag with one hand and pulled out a notepad and a pen. Without him having to ask, she held his bag while he scribbled his message out on the paper and held it out for her to read.

"_I think I know a better way for me to communicate with you," _he had written. "_It'll let me say a lot more than I normally could with words or signs or writing."_ He was smiling while he watched her read. "_Do you wanna give it a try?"_

She passed the paper back, curious. "Really? What is it?"

He wrote for a second, then handed the paper back. "_Do you want to try it? Yes or no?"_

Ran read it and rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Sure!" she nodded. "What is it?"

Shinichi took his school bag back from her and returned the notebook and pen to their proper place before closing the satchel and slinging it over his shoulder casually. He waited a second, then turned and leaned down, his face towards Ran's cheek.

_SMOOCH!

* * *

_

**PS. **_Inspired by a web comic._ _I just thought it was the cutest thing ever, had to do it. This one has to go out to someone who always has the nicest things to say—**Fyliwion**, I hereby dedicate this Kiss to you, hon! (glomp)_

_I also have to send a shout-out to **Kuro- Ippikiookami21**, the ONE HUNDREDTH REVIEWER! (sprinkles hugs, confetti, and a wide variety of illegal herbs) Hope everyone liked it. Much love!_


	12. Best Man for the Job

**Title:** Best Man for the Job  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#12—in a good mood  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

"Megure-keibu?" 

The portly Inspector lifted his head at the sound of his name, and immediately a smile broke on his face when he saw his visitor. "Ran-kun! What brings you here?"

The young woman in the doorway smiled and crossed the room. "Just doing a little favor for my husband. Shinichi called and asked me to pick up some files from you. He said he spoke to you about it?"

Megure nodded and opened a drawer, withdrawing several manila folders, which he handed over without further question. "He did call me about those." As he closed the drawer with a metallic clang, he went on, "When is he getting back in? I forgot to ask."

"His flight gets at six," Ran replied, tucking the folders safely under her arm. "And then I'm making him take me out to dinner." She huffed in mock-irritation. "Leave me here alone for three weeks while he goes flying off to Europe for work. Humph."

In reality, she couldn't wait for that plane to come in. Shinichi had gotten a call, all but begging him to come to England and solve a rash of bizarre murders happening there. He had accepted without hesitation, and later taken the scolding from his wife without complaint and with appropriate humility. After all, he could have at _least_ discussed it with her first.

And in truth, perhaps she was a bit paranoid. The last time she had watched him race off to solve a mystery, he had wound up stuck as a seven-year-old, hiding out from an expansive crime syndicate who wanted him dead. Could anyone blame her for not wanting him to run off like that again, for fear that he would vanish once more? She was terrified.

But now, three weeks later, he was coming home—finally.

She stood in the doorway and chatted amiably with the police chief for a while longer before she went to take her leave. But Megure stopped her as she was turning to leave. "Ran-kun…I can't put my finger on it, but there's something different about you."

Ran paused and bit her lip.

He studied her for a minute before his eyes widened. "You're not—"

"Shhhh!" she shushed him. "Yes—I just found out—but it's a secret until tonight!"

Megure rose and crossed the room to give her a paternal pat on the shoulder. "Congratulations. My lips are sealed until I hear otherwise." He gave her a conspiratorial wink and sent her on her way, chuckling. Well, damn.

_

* * *

_

"Some welcome home present," Shinichi mock-sighed, looking around. "I'm away for three weeks, and my welcome back gift is getting the opportunity to take you out to dinner." He pretended to look disappointed. "And here I was hoping for something a little _different_…" Emphasis on 'different.' One brow quirked as he grinned. He was teasing her; even after the hours he'd spent in airports and on the flights, one look at her had put him right back in a good mood.

She knew _exactly_ what he meant (and truth be told, the thought had crossed her mind on more than one occasion in the twenty-one days of his absence), but feigned innocence. "Oh, you wanted _me_ to pay instead? And all this time I thought you were a gentleman."

Now he chuckled outright. "Well, I know I'm happy to be home. England was wonderful and all," he paused to take a sip of dark burgundy liquid from his wine glass, "but if you're not there, then it just isn't all that great." His tone was light, but his eyes were burning into hers over the rim of his glass. Three weeks was really nothing compared to the length of time he had been stuck as Conan, but it made her strangely happy to know that he had missed her.

Her hand sought and found his on the tabletop, their fingers linking together with practiced ease. "I missed you, too," she said softly, giving his hand a squeeze. "Silly boy."

The waiter appeared, interrupting them for a moment. Once orders were taken, the young man absented himself, and they were once again alone. He wasn't saying anything yet. It was perfect timing.

"Shinichi…" Ran began slowly. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," he nodded, absently massaging the back of her hand with his thumb. "What's up?"

She looked down at their entwined hands for a moment before raising her gaze once more to meet his squarely. "What do you think about kids?" The question was all innocence and childlike curiosity.

"Kids?" Shinichi seemed to think about it for a minute. "I like kids." He paused, then grinned, all snark. "Puppies are nice, too. We should get one—I've always wanted a puppy…"

His wife blinked at him in surprise. That was obviously not _quite_ the answer she had been expecting. "Okay, I'll take that into consideration…but one more thing." She leaned forward, all serious. "Would you still love me if I got fat?"

"Of course I would," he smiled, and she knew he meant it. "Why? What did you eat?"

She frowned at him, though inside she was dancing with joy and nerves. "You can be such a jerk sometimes, you know that? You really should try to be nicer to me."

He chuckled. "Now why in the world would I want to do that?"

Ran smiled, the smug smile of a cat who has just devoured the canary. "Because in about seven months, I'm going to have your baby. So behave yourself, _Dad_, or I'll send you to your room." Silently, she thought to herself, _My__work here is done, _and sat back to watch the reaction.

Shinichi did not disappoint.

Well, it took about three seconds for her words to click, first off. Then he paled considerably. His eyes grew to the size of soccer balls, and his jaw dropped onto the tabletop with a loud _thud_. It was hilarious, although for one brief moment, Ran was quite certain he was going to faint dead away.

But then his expression shifted from bewildered and stunned to awe-struck staring. And through it all, never once did he relinquish his hold on her hands, intertwined on the tablecloth. He seemed to process for a moment before he said, "You're…?"

Ran nodded.

He blinked repeatedly, like he was trying to clear his head. "I'm…going to be a dad?"

She nodded again.

Shinichi was silent for a long moment before he suddenly pulled on their hands, raising them so he could kiss the back of her hand. And he was smiling. "You little sneak…"

Ran let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding and laughed. "Welcome home."

_

* * *

_

"Hmmm…" Shinichi murmured, carefully studying his reflection in the mirror. He tilted his head to one side. Then to the other. Then he raised his eyebrows. Then he wrinkled up his nose and stuck out his tongue. "Blaaaaaaaaah…" Then he smiled and shook his head.

Arms slid around him from behind, encircling his neck. He felt a weight against his back, something resting against him; Ran's head appeared beside his in the mirror, her chin resting on his shoulder. "Well, what do you think?"

His hands slid up to wrap around her wrists, and he raised an eyebrow at her. "I dunno, Ran. I don't think I really look like a daddy to be. Maybe you should find someone else…"

She laughed. "No, no, no, absolutely not. I'm pretty sure I've got the best man for the job right here." She accented her words by giving him a quick squeeze and a quick peck on the cheek. "I love you. Have I told you that lately?"

He chuckled. "Not for the last hour. I was starting to get worried."

"Shut up," she chastised gently.

But she was smiling as she tugged on his shirt collar with one hand, urging him to turn his head so she could kiss him properly, and Shinichi returned the favor wholeheartedly. After a moment, they broke apart, by some unspoken accord; Ran's head returned to its comfortable pillow on his shoulder while he leaned back into her, utterly cozy and contented.

Suddenly, Shinichi chuckled.

Ran turned her head to look at him quizzically in the mirror. "What?"

"Oh, just had a thought," he grinned wickedly. "This could be fun…"

* * *

The elder Kudo couple—namely, Yuusaku and Yukiko—came to visit their son and daughter-in-law. And it just so happened that Yuusaku's birthday fell during their visit. Well, naturally Shinichi and Ran couldn't just let that alone. 

So they planned a little party.

It wasn't really anything big. Ran's parents came over, along with a few people from the police department that they knew particularly well—you know, the usual suspects (as it were). Yuusaku was properly mortified at the idea, but begrudgingly played along. After some very silly party games (the Birthday Boy was decidedly unamused when they tried to talk him into a round of Pin the Magnifying Glass on the Meitantei), they had a pleasant dinner, courtesy of Ran and her kitchen wizardry. After dinner, though, a small battle broke out while Ran was in the kitchen, preparing dessert.

"Shinichi, this is ridiculous," Yuusaku protested.

"Come on, Dad!" Shinichi cajoled. "Ran baked this birthday cake just for you. She worked hard on it, and if you don't go along with it, you're going to hurt her feelings. And then I'll be mad." At this point, he was standing over his father, arms folded menacingly across his chest. He looked and sounded for all the world like a parent scolding an unruly child. "And you don't want me to get mad, do you, Dad?"

Yukiko covered her mouth to try and hide the fact that she was snickering. Loudly.

Across the table, Megure coughed loudly. Eri and Kogoro were grinning.

Finally, Yuusaku threw his hands in the air in surrender. "All right, all right!"

Right on cue, Ran appeared in the doorway, a good-sized frosted cake balanced on a platter in her hands. Two candles burned brightly on the top. She was grinning.

As was Shinichi. "We didn't have enough candles," he said cheerily.

"Shin-iiiiiiii-chi…" Ran said warningly.

He got the hint and shut up, taking a seat beside his father, at the head of the table.

Ran carefully set the cake on the table in front of the Birthday Boy, who looked quite embarrassed by the attention. "This really wasn't necessary…" he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I know. But it was fun!" Ran cheered. "And I wanted to!"

"And now my wife is going to serenade you for your birthday," Shinichi announced. "No protests, either. No if's, and's, but's, or maybe's about it. And no, for everyone who was cringing, I won't be joining in the song. I love ya, Dad, but not quite that much."

Ran cleared her throat. Yuusaku looked discomfited, while everyone else now laughed openly.

And she began to sing. "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear _Grandpa_! Happy birthday to you!" she sang brightly, grinning broadly at the reactions. Every head in the room (save for Shinichi's) swung to stare at her at the word 'grandpa.' The expressions instantly went from smiling and laughing to blank, curious stares.

And Shinichi's grin just grew wider and wider.

Yuusaku clocked back in first. Ever the brilliant detective, he said, "…did you just say grandpa?"

Ran and Shinichi nodded.

Yukiko broke out of her stupor next to ask Ran, "Are you—?"

At this point, they couldn't hold it in anymore. The young couple burst out into full-blown hysterics. "We debated for an hour on how to tell you!" Shinichi crowed proudly, his face going bright red with laughter. "The looks on your faces…" Ran couldn't even speak, she was giggling too hard, all she could manage was a nod.

And then she found herself swept up in a full-fledged glomp when Yukiko let out a shriek and dove from her seat, around her husband to envelope her daughter-in-law in a very tight hug. Eri was the next out of her seat to join in the group hug.

Shinichi, still reclining in his seat at the head of the table, gave his father a Look. "Why, Dad," he said, grinning cheekily, "I do believe I got you." He waited expectantly.

Yuusaku stared at him for a minute before shaking his head and reaching over to clap his son on the back. "Congratulations. On _both_ the blessed events."

* * *

**PS. ** _The entire story was sparked by my mental image of that last scene with Ran singing Happy Birthday in lieu of an announcement. It hit me while I was in the shower (as many of my ideas do...I swear, it's the smell of my shampoo that does it or something!), just that last scene, and the rest of the story built up to get to that point._

_Also, the middle part with the mirror was inspired by the awesome webcomic Queen of Wands, by the incomparable Aeire. Hope you enjoyed it. Much love!_


	13. Never Left Behind

**Title:** Never Left Behind  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#24—good night  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

With a cautious ease that spoke of plenty of experience at this particular activity, Shinichi inched the door open without a single sound, slipped inside, and closed the door again without so much as a creak. That took practice, considering that there was one specific spot on the floor that tended to groan rather noisily when trod upon.

Now safely inside, he tiptoed across the room, coming to stop beside the bed there.

And there she was, sound asleep. Even at her age, Ran was still a beautiful woman.

Resting his elbows on the edge of the bed, he put his chin in his hands. He should do everything he could to keep from waking her; she needed her rest now, as much as she could get. As much as he wanted to talk to her right now, he would refrain.

He had woken up not long before. Unable to get back to sleep, he had opted to just stare at the ceiling for a while. Suddenly, all he could think about was Ran, and he had to see her. And that deep, desperate urge to just be neat her couldn't wait any longer. So here he was.

And now that he was here, he couldn't bear the thought of leaving. So he sat in the darkness, taking great comfort in her simple proximity. He didn't have the heart to wake her up, just for the sake of easing his own unease. So he took consolation in the fact that she was there.

He didn't know how long he had been standing there, watching her steady breathing.

But suddenly, her eyes snapped wide open.

_

* * *

_

Ran was startled awake by someone leaning over her. She was confused for a moment, until she finally recognized the silhouette peering at her from the darkness; immediately, she felt foolish. Not bothering to sit up, she hissed through the shadows of night, "God, Shinichi, don't scare me like that!"

She could almost feel him smiling. "Sorry. I was just watching you sleep."

"You always do that," she replied. Unconsciously, her hand sought his, and found that he was seeking her as well. Aged, wrinkled fingers linked together in a gesture that was commonplace for them.

"Is there room?" he asked.

A little scooting and rearranging later, there was room for him to join her on the bed, stretched out beside her. "I didn't mean to wake you. I was just lying awake, thinking, and suddenly I wanted to see you." He sighed. "I was just planning to peek, and then leave, but you woke up."

Ran gave his hand the lightest of squeezes; she really couldn't manage much more than that anymore. "I'm glad you came, though. I'm happiest when you're here. I always miss you."

"I saw the way you were looking at that young doctor," Shinichi teased. "I think he likes you."

She laughed, then sobered. He didn't miss it, and waited for her to speak, sensing that she was going to. She didn't disappoint, though it took her a moment. "Shinichi…" she finally whispered, her fingers tightening around his hand. "I'm dying, aren't I?"

"Don't talk like that," he murmured back. He slipped his arm around her, a pose of comfortable familiarity. How many times in the past had they lay together in this exact position, her head pillowed against his arm and shoulder, his free hand intertwined in hers? Innumerable. It was something that they had eased into once upon a time, and that had last their whole lives.

But up until the last few months, there hadn't been that dark cloud hanging over them, a shadow watching over their shoulders like a raven, waiting and ready to strike. It was constant, the knowledge that someday—sooner than any of them would have liked—that dark bird _would_ attack, and it would be over.

"Am I dying?" she asked again.

"Of course not," he replied.

"You liar…I'm dying," she repeated once more, finally giving in. She had cried so little over these past months, opting to stay strong for her husband, her children, and herself. She smiled for them; she smiled for the nurses. But it was just Shinichi here now, and he had always been able to see right through her. She couldn't have hidden anything from him, even if she wanted to at that point.

"Shhh…" he shushed gently, knowing full well that she was right. They had both known that sooner or later, this would happen. Ever since the horrible day they had received the news…

_

* * *

_

_It really wasn't any darker in here than it had been before, on any other day. It wasn't even that late, the sun was just beginning its descent towards the horizon, dying the sky in brilliant gold, pink, and orange. So why did the shadows seem to reach just a bit farther, the light seemed a bit dimmer, the darkness a bit heavier?_

_Shinichi held the door open for her and watched as she walked by. Ran was moving stiffly, as wooden as a puppet; she didn't even seem to notice he was there anymore. She slipped off her shoes in a slow, rigid way that suggested she wouldn't have done it at all if years of experience hadn't conditioned her to the action._

_Without a word she headed up the stairs. He followed her, letting her lead the way to their bedroom. Again, he might as well have been invisible. She was still moving so slowly, laying down on the bed and curling up a bit; her eyes stared vacantly at the wall._

_He hesitated a moment before he made his own way the bed and sat down on the empty side, looking at her back. After a moment, the tension and uncertainty was just too much. "Ran?" he tried._

_She took a breath—a great shuddering one, he noticed absently—before she answered. "Come here," she said softly. "Please. Don't leave me alone right now…" Her voice broke on the last word._

_Shinichi needed no further encouragement to slip behind her and put his arms around her. For all his intellect, his intelligence, for all the love he still felt for her, he couldn't think of a single thing to say to ease her pain—or his own. All he could do was stay beside her, feeling his own heart breaking in his chest, and hold her as she cried and cried._

_They didn't move for a very long time, not until long after the sun had set._

_

* * *

_

"I don't want to leave you behind," she cried against his shoulder. "I can't leave you behind."

It was one of the few times in his life that Kudo Shinichi had felt tears burning his own eyes, and one managed to escape, sliding down a face that showed the results of a long life blessed with many smiles. "I know…" He held her as tightly as he safely could. "I don't think I'll survive without you when it actually happens…" It sounded so over-the-top and melodramatic, even to his own ears, but he meant it.

Feeling his warmth against her, around her, Ran sighed and closed her eyes against the further tears that threatened to escape. "I'm so tired…and it hurts so much, Shinichi…but I promised you…" She hiccupped while she clung to him. "I'm so tired…"

"I know, I know," he whispered soothingly. He couldn't hold her much tighter than that without hurting her. When he spoke next, his words came out more than a little choked. It was his worst nightmare, come to life. Once upon a time, he had been so terrified of losing her to a dark assassin's bullet; now, so many years later, he _was_ losing her to a dark assassin, one that came from within. "Just…just go to sleep."

"But—"

"Go to sleep," he repeated gently, moving to tug the blankets up around her.

She shifted slightly, not relinquishing her hold on his hand. "You'll stay with me, right?"

"Always," he murmured in reply, settling back into place beside her; a turn of his head was all it took to place a tender kiss on her forehead. "I promised, didn't I? Now go to sleep." He felt her nod, and felt that lump stick harshly, painfully in his throat once again as he gave her the most careful of hugs. "Goodnight, Ran. I love you."

"Goodnight, Shinichi," she finally settled into the comfort of his one-armed embrace, the familiar feel of his steady, even breathing. "I love you, too." And together, they both slipped away to slumber…

_

* * *

_

_Ran snuggled into her new husband's warm embrace; she yawned happily._

_He chuckled lightly. "You seem quite comfortable."_

"_Hmm…tired…" she murmured. "Don't move until tomorrow morning, okay?" _

"_You're really ruining my plans for you…" he whined._

_She felt herself blush, knowing full well what he meant. "Shinichi!"_

"_What? In case you weren't conscious during the whole ceremony thing, Ran, we're married. And that, my dear," he cheered happily as he tapped the top of her head with his index finger, "is something that married people do. No more keeping my hands to myself."_

"_You only kept your hands to yourself because I would have broken both your arms at the slightest offense," Ran deadpanned, paused, and then added sheepishly, "…that I didn't approve of, anyway…"_

_He laughed, letting one of his hands slide to the back of her head while her cheek rested quite comfortably on his chest. They were quiet for a moment; he was gently massaging the back of her neck, while she simply listened to the steady tattoo of his heart beating. So very peaceful…_

"_Hey, Shinichi?"__Ran said suddenly, lifting her chin to rest it against his chest so she was looking up at him. She looked serious, almost fearful. "Don't ever leave me behind again. Okay?" Her voice was soft, with the faintest note of pleading._

"_Now why would I do that?" he teased. He absently played with a strand of her hair while his own expression turned somber. "It took way too long for me to get back to you in the first place. There's no way I'm going to go running off again anytime soon." A pause. "Not without your permission, of course."_

"_Like you'd listen to me," she grinned wickedly. "What would I know, I'm just your wife…"_

_But Shinichi was still looking down at her with that serious, thinking expression, his fingers still toying with her hair. "Ran…don't you ever leave me behind either, okay?"_

_For a moment, she was startled; she hadn't quite been expecting that. But Ran was smiling and nodding as she slid her hand into his unoccupied one to seal their promise. "Never."_

_

* * *

_

The next morning, the nurse came into Kudo Ran's hospital room to see how the elderly cancer patient was faring. Ran (she insisted on being on a first-name basis with her caretakers) was a favorite in the unit because of her kindness and optimism in spite of her condition. Her husband, an almost-permanent joint resident, was equally adored by the nurses.

But she was startled to find not one, but _two_ elderly people, a couple who had been married for decades, both now at the ripe age of eighty-three, stretched out together on the hospital bed. Her head was pillowed against his arm and shoulder; his free hand was clasped between both of hers, and his cheek was resting against the top of her head, ignorant of the fact that the treatments had caused her hair to fall out.

Although somehow, instinctively, she already knew, she checked anyway. They were both gone.

Together, even in the end. It was for the best, though—after all, they had been together for so long, so many years of happiness. They belonged together, and couples like that rarely survived each other for long. It was a blessing for them.

But unbeknownst to everyone else, perhaps there was another reason. They had made a promise, the night they had been married, that neither of them would ever be left behind again. And they kept that promise to the last.

It was better that way.

* * *

**PS. **…_well, that ended up pretty much a la The Notebook, didn't it? Oh well. A little different from the standard fluff and quasi-pervertedness of the others. But so few write about Shinichi and Ran when they get to the elderly state of their lives. So I did, bittersweet as it ended up._

_In the version of this that appears in the LJ community, there are song lyrics included. They're the ones that sort of inspired the story, and I listened to the song while I typed this. The song is "Once Before I Go" from the Broadway musical **The Boy from Oz. **Hugh Jackman sings it in the show (purr)._

_And for the first time, I actually started to cry while I was writing a fanfiction. The part with the kiss and the goodnight—all of a sudden, there's a tear running down my cheek. That has never happened to me before. So I **really** hope you liked it. Much love!_


	14. Fighting Back

**Title:** Fighting Back  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#16—invincible; unrivaled  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

It was just another one of Those Days. You know, the ones that end in the letter _y_.

And once again, Shinichi was proving himself by earning a gold star in everyone's favorite class, Escaping Death After Making Ran Mad 101. Well, he had royally pissed Ran off in one of the usual ways—this time, it was insulting her father's (questionable) intelligence. Not hard to do, but she had rather taken offense. To the extreme.

And so she retaliated in the way she did best when he got her this angry. With her fists a-flying.

It was pure reflex by now, part of their routine. He did something stupid, and she let him have it, and then life went on as normal until the next go-around. However, this time something happened that she had not anticipated, and thus could not protect against.

Shinichi changed the Rules.

Rather than the usual duck and cover and run for his life, he actually reached out and caught her wrist. He made it look effortless, but she could actually feel his muscles tensing as he pushed back, his strength against hers before he suddenly spun around—

—keeping his grip on her arm. Ran was dragged along for the ride; she flipped neatly over Shinichi's shoulder, flying head over heels to somehow land painlessly on the floor. And there, she found her arms pinned to the carpet beside her head.

She was too stunned to put up much of a struggle until well after she was flat on her back on the ground. Shinichi _never_ fought back; he had never dared to challenge her when she was in an ass-kicky mood. In the past, he had always just dodged.

But now Shinichi was leaning over her, holding her wrists and _smirking_. Oh, how she longed to wipe that smug little smirk right off of his face, oh yes she did! Instead she simply growled and tried valiantly to free her hands with the intention of decking him.

He held on. "Aww, what's the matter?" he grinned.

After a minute of tugging, she became very still, and simply glowered at him.

"Weren't expecting that, were you?" Shinichi teased, ignoring the heated glare she was leveling at him. How he ignored it, no one really knows, considering that it was a Look that could have probably killed small animals. "Well, I've never actually challenged you before when you come after me like that, so I figured I'd prove to you that I'm not totally defenseless."

"Shinichi, let go," she ordered in a voice that was far too calm. Translation: _bad sign_.

But Shinichi was far braver than most, or he simply trusted that she wasn't actually going to kill him. "Why? I kinda like this," he said mischievously. "I think we should stay like this for a while."

She wasn't _quite_ sure what he was referring to, but it was at that point that she became acutely aware of just how they were sprawled out. She was flat on her back on the floor, and Shinichi was holding her wrists, pinning them to the carpet by her head. To keep her effectively pinned, though, he was sort of laying across her stomach…yeah, he was on top of her.

Enter full three-alarm blush.

"Ah, she notices," he actually leered.

"Shinichi, get off," Ran ordered again; her voice jumped about an octave in pitch. Meanwhile, her mind was racing, thinking of all the bad things that could and would happen should her father come home in the middle of this particular scene. And he seriously wasn't moving, and even though she knew he wouldn't actually do anything, panic was starting to set in.

Though she wasn't quite sure if she was freaking out at the way they were situated, or at the fact that the extremely close proximity was sending flurries of—of _something_ dancing around in her stomach. Those weren't butterflies, those had to be full-grown vultures or something!

"Aww, but this is so comfortable…" he whined.

Ran officially began to panic—still unsure as to exactly what her motivation for freaking out what—and she began struggling again as she yelled at him. "I swear to God, Shinichi, get off! I swear when I get my hands on you I'll—_mmph_!"

Still holding her wrists, he dipped his head and silenced her in a way that only he could.

For a minute, Ran forgot her situation, forgot the awkwardness of their current position, forgot that he had actually dared to fight back when he so obviously deserved the beating she was going to dish out to him. She had something new to focus on now.

Between the fact that he was kissing her and the way that he was currently pressed against her, Ran could no longer think. It was amazing—he was the only one who had ever had that particular effect on her. He had a power over her that no one else had ever had. And she loved it, sometimes in spite of herself.

And then he pulled back…and let her go. It took her a minute to regain control of herself, not to mention quickly bury the strange twitch of disappointment. In that minute while she was still slightly out-of-it, he had released her, gotten back on his own feet, and was now offering her a hand up.

She hesitated, half-expecting another trick, but finally accepted the proffered assistance, and was back on her own feet in record time. She stared at him with wide eyes, willing her breathing and heart to return to their normal, steady rates.

"I was just kidding," he smiled, not letting go of her hand.

After a moment of processing, she smiled back, tentatively.

For a moment, they simply looked at each other, hand in hand, smiling like morons.

Then reality came back from its coffee break, looked at the scene, said 'hell, no!' and went back to work. Shinichi turned and tore out of the room; Ran was hot on his heels, hollering death threats, wishes of extreme pain, and promises of unspecified torture as she chased him. Back to their little ritual.

* * *

**PS. **_And so it goes, and so it goes…just a short one this time._ _The scene amused me to no end. Hope you enjoyed it. Also, I'm sort of thinking that I might (key word: MIGHT) try and write an extra story for this challenge. One story, all thirty themes. It would be a total crack-fic, I promise you. So there might be thirty-one chapters to this. Not sure yet, but considering it, just to be silly._

_Much love!_


	15. Bound by Fate

**Title:** Bound by Fate  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#19—red  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

Conan was worried, to say the least.

Not that anyone blamed the little boy for his concerns. It had been a busy, busy night, after all. Between the first bomb going off, Ran's amazing deactivation of the second bomb, and all the other resulting chaos, everyone was more than a little freaked out.

But there was something else tugging at the young adult mind that lay behind Conan's glasses.

And the real warning signal for Shinichi was what he found when he tiptoed into the kitchen in search of a glass of water. After struggling around the kitchen (everything was so blasted tall!), he headed towards the couch, ice cold beverage in hand, and hopped up to sit and nurse his drink and think for a while. But as he was looking around absently, thinking about Ran and the events of the night when he saw something that seemed a bit out of the ordinary.

The paper bag sat innocently beside Kogoro's desk, in the office. And something, some random intuition, made him want to take a closer look. Sneaking over, he peered inside. He saw a small heap of bright red fabric—the polo shirt that Ran had bought as a birthday gift for Shinichi. She had planned to give that to him at midnight at the movie.

But Shinichi hadn't made it to the movie that night, and Ran hadn't gotten to give him the present.

He let her down again.

Granted, she didn't seem to blame Shinichi for not being there at the time, what with the building blowing up and all. First of all, he had talked her through disarming the bomb, and gone so far as to be willing to stand on the other side of a wall until she cut the last cord. _If you die, then I will too, _he had said. And he meant it—he would have died with her there.

She had been preoccupied with the aftermath of that attack—getting checked out at the hospital, talking to the police, and dealing with her father's overprotective nature. But now that she was home, and she'd had some time to think, the shadows were creeping back into her eyes.

His water now sat on the table forgotten. He sat on his knees beside the paper bag, clenched fists resting on his thighs, trying to think of a reasonable plan of action. But his thoughts kept drifting back to one horrible thought. _He'd let her down again._

Conan sighed. Well, best to find some pretense on which he could at least check on her. And lo, there was a good excuse right in front of him. Grabbing the paper bag possessively in both hands, he headed out of the office and up the stairs to her room, completely forgetting his water glass. It wasn't important anymore.

Her door was closed. He momentarily considered that perhaps she was in bed, but realized that with everything that had happened, there was absolutely no way she would be asleep. Thus decided, he tapped on the door, but heard no response. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and inched inside before closing the door behind him.

Ran was sitting on her bed, her back against the wall, staring straight ahead. It seemed that she hadn't even heard him come in. She could have very well been a statue, silent and unmoving.

"Ran-neechan?" Conan said quizzically. He held out the bag. "You left this downstairs." No answer, so he tried again. "It's for Shinichi-niichan, right? I bet he felt really bad about having to leave again." Still nothing. "Ran-neechan? Here. I brought this upstairs for you."

This time, he saw and heard her take a shaky breath, and her voice was trembling when she replied, "T-thank you, Conan-kun. You can just set it by the door. You should be in bed, it's late…"

When the moonlight cut through the clouds and washed over her features, he could see that her azure eyes were shining silver-blue because of the tears gathering there. But she took a deep breath and tilted her head back against the wall, not yet allowing herself the weakness of tears.

"Why did he leave?" Ran asked softly, still stalwartly refusing to shed those tears. "We could have died tonight. I wanted to see him. And it's his birthday. He knew I was waiting for him. Why did he run off again? Why does he always disappear when I need him the most?" Her self-control shuddered ever so slightly then, and the first tear slipped down her cheek.

Conan was silent a moment. Then he clambered up onto her bed and wrapped his small arms around her neck in the best hug he could muster. He felt her tense in surprise; it wasn't often that he went out of his way to initiate physical contact of any kind, and so his gesture startled her.

"Ran-neechan…" he swallowed hard, determined to say what he knew he needed to at this point. For her sake. "If Shinichi-niichan makes you cry so much, why don't you forget about him?"

"Baka!" Ran snapped angrily. "Conan-kun, I can't just _forget_ him! Baka!"

Conan had jumped back, startled at her anger. Now he sat staring at her with wide eyes from the other end of the bed. "But…" Conan began uncertainly before he looked down, his voice genuinely wavering, "…I hate it when you cry."

The anger in Ran's face melted away instantly, giving way to her real feelings of sadness and guilt. She had no right to snap at him—he was only trying to help. And Conan was just a child, there was no way he could know what it felt like to find that one special person. He couldn't possibly understand. He just wanted her to feel better and stop crying.

She held her arms out to the little boy, who obediently crawled over and let himself be pulled into her lap for a tight hug. "Oh, Conan-kun, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. But I can't just forget Shinichi. That would be like…like…" She grappled for an appropriate comparison. "…like trying to forget my own name. I just can't do that."

Normally, this pose—gathered into her lap, held tightly against her—would have sent Shinichi straight to the point of spontaneous combustion, but that was the farthest thing from his mind. She was falling apart now, breaking up. He had to do something before she was really lost to him.

"But all he does is make you cry and make you sad," he whispered, leaning against her, feeling her tremble with emotions she didn't dare release, especially in the presence of her young charge. Inside Conan's mind, Shinichi felt himself shatter into pieces every single time she shook. "Why, Ran-neechan?"

"Conan-kun…" she said slowly, "I know you get sick of hearing this—you're such a clever little boy, smarter than everyone gives you credit for. But this might be one thing that you're just too young to understand. Someday—someday when you're older and you find someone special, you'll understand why I can't just let Shinichi go."

Conan seemed to digest this for a minute before he asked, "Could you try to tell me? I _know_ I can understand. Ran-neechan, tell me—you're good at explaining things. You always make me tell you when something makes me sad and I feel better, so maybe if you talk about it, you'll feel better too. Please?" Behind Conan's puppy-dog eyes, Shinichi waited uneasily.

There was a long pause while Ran thought. She pulled Conan in a bit tighter and let her head rest against the top of his head, feeling his soft hair against her cheek. He squirmed the tiniest bit—he had always been a bit uncomfortable at close proximity—but did not otherwise protest, perhaps sensing that she needed the comfort more than he needed to be at ease.

"Shinichi…" she began slowly, "…Shinichi and I have always been together, ever since we were children. He's always been there—teasing me, helping me, looking out for me. Whenever I needed him, he was there. And at some point—I think it was when we were in New York that time—I woke up and realized that he meant a lot to me…a lot more to me than just a friend, I mean." 

Conan waited while she seemed to gather her thoughts.

To his surprise, she laughed humorlessly. "I can't even tell you why I fell for him, really. He's a mystery geek. Totally overconfident. Full of himself. Can't stop babbling about Sherlock Holmes or mysteries. But," she shrugged, "that's Shinichi. I won't have him any other way because that's the person he is. The person I love.

Her expression darkened, though Conan couldn't see it from his perch in her lap. "Am I really so stupid, Conan-kun? I can't even keep him in one place long enough to tell him the truth or try and figure out what he's thinking. I just can't catch him…"

Conan shifted a bit, trying to think of something to say, anything to say! But he was surprised to hear the words practically leap from his throat. "Maybe you already caught him, Ran-neechan, and you just don't know it yet."

"That's silly…"

"No, I mean it! I talk to him sometimes," Conan persisted. "I know he thinks about you a lot."

"Really…?" she asked, not _quite_ able to keep that one hopeful note from her voice.

"Really."

She seemed to ponder this, then she sighed. "Sonoko keeps trying to tell me to find someone else, but—she really can't understand. I just keep comparing them, to Shinichi, and no one ever matches up. It's just hard to explain. Someday, when you fall in love, Conan-kun, then you'll understand," Ran finished, and fell silent.

Conan waited a moment, not daring to move, speak, or even breathe loudly. He was still sitting in her lap, her arms tightly around him, her cheek pressed against his hair; he didn't dare disturb her. But when he was absolutely certain that she wasn't going to speak again, he dared to ask, "Do you feel any better, Ran-neechan?"

"…a little," she admitted with a weak, if teary, smile. She released him almost regretfully. "Sorry, Conan-kun. Didn't mean to turn you into a teddy bear."

He was sitting on the bed by her knees now, and he shook his head. "It's okay." He didn't add that he liked it when she hugged him; that wasn't appropriate right now, and the thought really hadn't even occurred to him, all things considered.

Then he noticed that she looked extremely tired. She kept rubbing at her eyes, though that was partially from crying, he was certain. And she had been quite pale lately, he'd been worried about that…

"Go to sleep, Ran-neechan," Conan ordered suddenly, pushing on her shoulders to somewhat forcibly coax her into a reclining position. "You'll feel better in the morning if you get some sleep." She let him make her lay down; it was only then that she felt how exhausted she truly was.

She expected Conan to leave after getting her head on the pillow, but she was surprised when he continued fussing over her. "Conan-kun?" she asked, already nodding off. "What're you doing?"

"Don't worry," he said cheerily, all childhood innocence and wide eyes. "I can tuck myself in, just this once. Tonight, I'm going to tuck you in!" And true to his word, he set about trying to make sure the blankets were gathered around her _just_ right for maximum warmth.

Ran couldn't help but feel a bit cheered up at his attentions. "Conan-kun?" He paused to listen. "When you fall in love someday, you make sure you tell me all about it, all right?"

He looked startled for a moment before he smiled and nodded. "Someday, Ran-neechan. I'll tell you everything. I promise." And he went back to the tucking in.

She watched him with a faint smile; Conan really was her little angel, sent to stay by her side and watch over her when Shinichi had been taken from her. And he really was so much like Shinichi, always so concerned about her. So very much like Shinichi…very much, indeed…

As the child watched her breathing slow down and even out into the deep sighs of slumber, words from another day not long before floated into his mind. Ran's soothing voice, explaining an old story to her adoptive little brother.

_When a man and a woman are born who are destined to be together, their little fingers are joined by a red string of Fate. Through this bond, they will find each other, even if it takes their whole lives._

Red. His favorite color, and Ran's as well. Supposedly their lucky color, it had nearly killed them both earlier that evening. She had been wearing the color tonight, he remembered; she looked good in red. But the more he thought about it, it really was a color that suited them both. For starters, he thought wryly, it was the color he turned whenever she decided to latch onto him, both as Conan and as Shinichi.

But there was more it. Red was a color of love, of passion, and in their own ways, they were both highly passionate people. He was passionate about soccer, Sherlock Holmes, and his mysteries. Ran was passionate about karate and _ignoring_ everything he said about Sherlock Holmes and his mysteries.

But there was one more thing, Shinichi realized…one more thing that sent his pulse racing. One more thing that made his palms sweaty and his hands shake. One more thing that caused his heart to start hammering inside his ribcage.

His _real_ passion was…

The small boy lingered by her bed for that extra moment, that thought chasing itself around his mind. Hidden behind the mask of Conan's glasses, Shinichi watched her sleeping. It tore him up inside to see her so sad, but there was nothing he could do. She wouldn't let him go, sacrificing her own happiness to wait so patiently for his return. Yet at the same time, he felt a twinge of happiness.

She hadn't given up on him yet. There was still that hope.

She was such a strong person, and not just in the physical sense. She had held it together for so long, going on and weeping only in private—or in the presence of a small boy who sometimes seemed to know a bit more about what was going on than he probably should have. But even the strongest people could be shaken down to the core—he himself was a prime example. If he was in her place after everything that had happened that night, he probably would have fallen apart, too.

Ran shifted, and the covers moved. Smiling indulgently to himself, he reached down and adjusted the bedclothes, feeling her breathing beneath the blankets. He let his hand linger for one extra moment at her neck, feeling the smooth warmth of her skin and the gentle brush of her hair. A sudden twinge of longing struck a chord inside him.

She was so beautiful. It broke his heart—he had really been a fool, hadn't he?

As he withdrew his hand from the blankets, he could have sworn he saw something on his hand, hanging down onto the bed. When he blinked, there was nothing there. But for that split second, he honestly thought he had seen something dangling off his hand. He couldn't be sure, but it had almost looked like a thin red string. 

Shimmering like a promise beneath the kiss of silver moonlight.

* * *

**PS. **_This is mostly one big reference to Movie 1, in which the color red is a major factor. The story for this theme was one of the very first ideas I had when I started the challenge and looked at the theme list, and I've actually been working on it for about that long. I'm rather fond of it, so I **really** hope you liked it._

_In the version posted to LJ, I used partial lyrics from the song "Blue Eyes Blue" by Eric Clapton, used without permission. It's from the Runaway Bride soundtrack. I thought it fit those two fairly well._

_Also, I wanted to get this one done because as of this posting, I am officially half done with the 30 Kisses challenge. Fifteen down, fifteen to go…hope you'll all stick with me for the next fifteen, because there's still plenty more to go. Much love!_


	16. The Alphabet Game

**Title:** The Alphabet Game  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#10—#10  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

_The Alphabet Game._

Shinichi frowned at the email's heading, and double-clicked on it. It was from Ran—sent within the last ten minutes. She didn't often send him emails, as it was generally easier to call him, and they saw each other pretty much daily. But the ones she did forward along tended to be rather interesting. In a second, the email window had popped up, and he found himself reading a most intriguing challenge from his girlfriend.

_Shinichi, _(Ran had written) _I saw this online, and thought it might be interesting to try. Take each letter of the alphabet, and come up with a word or phrase starting with that letter that you think describes me, be it good or bad or whatever, and then explain it. Send it to me when you're done, and then I'll send you the one I'm doing for you. It had better be good ;) Love, Ran._

Shinichi reread the email, and then smiled. Interesting…very interesting.

Not that he could have refused Ran this, even if he hadn't thought it might be fun. But a chance to really think through everything he could about her, and put them into words. Most intriguing. He popped open a reply email, thought about it for a moment, and then began to type, starting with the letter A…

_

* * *

_

Far sooner than she had expected, an email popped into Ran's inbox. The subject read _Here's__ your alphabet! _She smiled indulgently. Her boyfriend was a nerd, but she loved him dearly. She might have been just a tad bit nervous at what might be waiting for her, but she opened the email and began reading.

_A: Azure. The color of your eyes. Beautiful blue._

_B: Beautiful. I don't really have to explain this, do I? You're a solid ten, and don't you ever forget it. And I know you're blushing now, which is also very cute :)_

_C: Cooking. What you can do in a kitchen is nothing short of magic. And it makes me very, very happy that you didn't inherit your mother's cooking skills…or lack thereof. No food poisoning for me!_

_D: Daring. Anybody who will jump off a burning skyscraper with nothing but a fire hose for a lifeline has got guts to spare. If someone important to you is in trouble, you'll barrel into the fray without a second thought…and usually kick ass while you're at it._

_E: Energy. You can do anything and everything, and do it all at once. I swear you have the ability to grow extra arms or something. There's no other way for you to juggle that many things at once!_

_F: Friend. Basic, but true. No matter how much has changed between us, you're still my best friend, the one I've known since we were both a lot shorter (the first time around, I mean…), the person who knows me better than anyone else, yet has not seen fit to use that knowledge for blackmail purposes._

_G: Girly. You are, and it works. Don't change. Ever._

_H: Hug. Remember when we faced off the with the syndicate, and everything sort of came flying out into the open, and I kinda got shot and ended up in the hospital and they thought I was going to die? Well, I never actually told you this, but when I woke up and you were standing there and there was no one else in the room, my first thought was "No witnesses…" And then you hugged me and told me everything was going to be okay…I love you, you know that?_

_I: In control. Two words, I know, but it's true. Even when you're not in control, you are! I hope that makes sense, but I can't think of any other way to put it._

_J: Justice. Evil-doers beware, for Ran will kick your ass, and look amazing doing it!_

_K: Karate…or kicking my ass. Either applies. Sometimes it scares me to know that you could dismantle me with your bare hands, but that's a part of who you are, so I'll just keep dodging. And at least I know you can take care of yourself. Not that it stops me from worrying, but hell…_

_L: Lovely. Pretty is skin-deep, whereas beautiful goes aaaaaaaall the way down to the core. And you, my dear, are lovely in every respect._

_M: Maternal. You have this caring streak in you about a mile wide. I got to see that part of you a lot during the whole Conan fiasco. You're going to be a great mother someday…cough…_

_N: Nice. Very basic, but very true. You're just a nice person, not a malicious bone in your body, even when you're beating me (I know that I usually deserve it, anyway). You're also nice to look at. But only I get to do that. Mine!_

_O: Optimistic. Even when things seem really bleak, you can always look on the bright side of things and somehow find an upside. We could be hanging over a cliff, and you could find something nice to say about how lovely the view is or something. How do you do that, anyway?_

_P: Patient. You have got to be the most patient person I have ever met. For starters, you put up with me, don't you? And if you want something, you'll wait as long as it takes to get it. Nothing particular comes to mind, of course… _

_Q: Question. Will you marry me?_

_R: Red. Your favorite color. It really suits you. You're very passionate about things that are important to you. And besides, it looks really good on you ;)_

_S: Sexy. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? You're hot! …don't beat me. Please?_

_T: Tender. When I'm having a bad day, or something's going wrong, or a case is bugging me, or whatever, you can always make things feel better by just putting your arms around me. Thank you._

_U: Unshakable. I really have to work to ruffle your feathers some days!_

_V: Violent. Ehehe…you get mad, I run the other way. See also letter K: Karate._

_W: Work. You're not afraid to pull your weight at any task, and you have an amazing work ethic. I mean, you clean up after your father almost daily. You are an amazing worker!_

_X: X-ray. You're really the only person who can do this to me. Sometimes you look at me, and I get the feeling that you're just looking straight through me. Makes it hard to hide things from you—like your birthday presents, or the fact that I've been looking at rings._

_Y: Yummy. Cooking, and otherwise (griiiiiiiiiin)_

_Z: Zany. Odd choice of word, hmm? Well, you are. I've seen you when you really cut loose and let go, and you have to be the craziest person I know when you just let go of it all. And don't deny it, I've seen you at karaoke (you may have destroyed those pictures, but I still have the negatives, thank you very much)._

_Well, there you go, Ran. As per your request, an alphabet for you. Looking forward to what you're going to say about me. It had better be good, or else! Love you. Shinichi._

Ran was grinning from ear to ear, and she had no desire to put that smile away anytime soon. Well, wasn't this just the most interesting thing…she pulled up her own alphabet on Shinichi and made a couple of slight edits. One cut and paste later, it was whizzing across the internet towards his inbox, and she was on her way out the door in a hurry.

_

* * *

_

Shinichi had been waiting for the response email with Ran's alphabetical thoughts on him a bit more nervously than he had thought he would be. But finally, as he was leaning back to take a swig from a canned beverage, he heard the email click into his inbox. Sitting up, he opened it without hesitation.Eagerly, he started to read…and promptly spit his drink all over the computer monitor.

_A: Ass. You've got a nice one. Make sure you clean the screen off before you go on, okay?_

Shinichi grumbled a bit, but pulled out paper towels and made quick work of the mess. How did she do that, anyway? But once he was satisfied that the stickiness had been vanquished, he settled back down and went on.

_B: Blue. You have beautiful blue eyes. I've told you that before. I could just stare at them forever. But then you would probably think I'm weird and make fun of me, you jerk._

_C: Cynical. Maybe it's all those murders, but you are so incredibly pessimistic sometimes. Things usually work out, don't they? So stop worrying so much. Rose-colored glasses don't bite once in a while._

_D: Death. Sorry, sweetie, but dead bodies follow you around like lost puppies. Have you been cursed or something? We could contact someone to reverse the hex, if you want. Yay, we're going to get you exorcised!  
_

_E: Egotistical. Speaks for itself. I love you, but some nights I can't see the stars because your big head is in the way. But don't worry. If you start getting a little too full of yourself, I will personally and cheerfully take you down a couple of pegs. Aren't I generous? Really, what would you do without me?_

_F: Facetious. Good word, isn't it? I'm sure you know this, but it means 'sarcastic.' There is no one more sarcastic than you, Shinichi. Sarcastic and cynical—how you can still be so damn charming while you're making all those wisecracks, usually **about **me, is beyond me._

_G: Gentleman. I've talked with your mother about this (and yes, I do chat with your parents from time to time, deal with it), and she done good, raising a perfect gentleman. Part of the time, anyway. Don't let it go to your head—you're still a jerk for the other twenty-two hours of the day._

_H: Handsome. I'm going to borrow your phrase. You, sir, are a full-fledged ten. And all mine!_

_I: Intelligent. How in the world you can sleep through every single class and still get the marks you do escapes me. Come back down to us mere mortals once in a while, okay? Thanks._

_J: Justice. You stole mine for you, you jerk! Guess I'll reuse it. You have such a strong sense of justice that sometimes you forget everything else or get into trouble because of it. I won't mention any names or specific times, though. Of course._

_K: Kick. A soccer ace who never misses. That's you. The only person I've ever heard of who can use a soccer ball as a deadly weapon. And don't listen to what anybody else says, I am definitely your number one fan. So there :-P_

_L: Lemon. You love your lemon pie, don't you? Hope mine is still your favorite. And for the record, I know exactly what you were thinking when you saw lemon. While I thoroughly enjoy kissing you, I will break both your arms--and possibly a couple of other limbs--should you take any liberties I do not expressly approve of. This has been a public service announcement.  
_

_M: Mysteries. You knew would pop up somewhere on here, didn't you? You are a total mystery nerd, you can't stop babbling about Sherlock Holmes, and you run off to solve cases at the drop of a hat. But that's a part of who you are, and I accept that. But you're still a nerd._

_N: Narcissist. See also E: Egotistical. I've seen you walking past windows and stop to check your reflection. You look fine. I promise you. And yes, I am fully aware that your eyes are gorgeous. So watch where you're going already. Although it was hilarious after you got back to normal when I caught you staring in a mirror, and you explained to me, "I haven't seen myself in a while. I missed me!" Very cute.  
_

_O: Obsessive. You take your interests very seriously. There've been a couple of soccer games on where I could have probably walked into the room naked and stood on my head and you wouldn't have even noticed I was there, let alone…yeah. But you're very intent on things that are important to you._

_P: Popular. Confession time: I fell for you a long time ago. But I really thought that there was no way you'd ever go for me—you had your own goddamn fan club! Glad we both clued in. And I've actually got another word for this letter: **Possessive**. You've got me, and you're not letting go, are you? But in the end, I own you, and you know it ;)_

_Q: Quizzical. You can never stop asking questions. Must be a side-effect of that whole detective thing. You hate it when you don't know what's going, don't you?_

_R: Red. Damn you, you took mine for this too! I'm using it anyway, so there. It's also your favorite color. Nearly got us killed that one time, didn't it? But like you said, it's a color of passion, and that fits you. No matter how much you try to be all indifferent all the time. I know you better than that._

_S: Singing. I love you, but please. Just don't. You could probably make a criminal give up if you just started belting Row, Row, Row Your Boat at them or something. Otherwise, just don't do it._

_T: Trust. I've always trusted you above all others. That got shaken a bit once, but trust can be rebuilt, and you came back to prove yourself worthy of it again. But don't do that again, okay?_

_U: Unique. Before you start snorting, let me explain. You are one in a million. I doubt that I would ever be able to find another person like you in the world. You're very special._

_V: Valentine. Be mine? Okay, teasing._

_W: Wiseass. You are. Don't deny it._

_X: Xylophone. No real reason. I've just always wanted to learn to play one. (Come on, you come up with another X word that makes sense, Mr. X-Ray!)_

_Y: Yes. I will marry you. Couldn't you have asked me in person, or when this came along, did it just seem too good of an opportunity to pass up? You nerd :)_

_Z: Zephyr. The wind. You are like a wind. You always manage to come flying in and shake everything up, like a windstorm. But at the same time, you can be as gentle as a summer breeze. Also, as you're reading this, that's how fast I'm currently sprinting over to your house—like the wind._

_You are a total nerd. I'll see you in a few minutes. Love, Ran._

It took a moment for that all to sink in. But by the time he'd actually processed, someone was already knocking frantically on his door. In record time, he was opening it and sweeping Ran up into his arms for a very enthusiastic kiss. He gave her the ring, too.

_E: Eventually_.

* * *

**PS.** _KyteAura wrote a CCS fic using this premise, and I absolutely adored it, so I thought maybe I'd see what Shinichi and Ran had to say about each other. BTW, the dictionary is my friend…but I hope you liked the random fluff. After a couple of angsty chapters, it's nice to get back to cuteness._

_Thanks for reading, everyone! Much love to all!_


	17. Beautiful Beginning

**Title:** Beautiful Beginning  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#22—cradle  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

The two babies stared at each other with strikingly similar azure gazes.

Having been placed in the same cradle by their parents, they really didn't have much else to do. Said parents were just outside the door, excitedly discussing their relatively new roles as parents, leaving their very young children to get acquainted.

The adorable little boy regarded his newfound companion quizzically before crawling over to her for closer examination. She held onto her stuffed bunny toy and watched him right back.

Baby Shinichi chirped.

Baby Ran cooed.

Baby Shinichi gurgled.

Baby Ran meeped.

Baby Shinichi giggled.

Baby Ran shrieked and waved her arms…and then reached over and soundly gave Baby Shinichi a baby slap on the top of his baby head before she decided that the bunny toy in her hands was more interesting and less likely to irritate her, and began gnawing on its ear. Poor Bunny-san.

Baby Shinichi pouted.

Baby Ran chewed, ignoring him.

That was the state they were in when Yukiko and Eri came in several minutes later and scooped them back up, chattering something about putting them in a playpen so they could have a little bit more room to move and play. Shinichi was still peering at Ran curiously, and Ran was still clinging fiercely to her bunny rabbit, giving Shinichi a more suspicious look.

In short order, the babies were deposited in the aforementioned playpen, and the mothers were on their way back to engage in further conversation and coffee with the men-folk. But Yukiko paused, and hung back. Once Eri had returned to the kitchen, she stood alone in the doorway, observing quietly.

Ran was wielding her bunny toy, clinging it in front of her like a small plush shield. She studied the small boy warily, keep Bunny-san between him and herself. But Shinichi didn't seem to notice her unease and crawled right up to her, gurgling happily. Having given her space for a while, he now seemed determined to befriend the shy little girl, whether she was interested at the moment or not.

Had he been older, Yukiko probably would have stopped this. But he was just a baby, far too small to understand the concept of restraints or personal boundaries. And besides, it was really adorable to watch him chase the little girl around. She sighed. Even at his tender young age, he was already starting to act like his father…

Yukiko frowned, and immediately squelched that particular thought.

Now Shinichi was poking at the rabbit with curiosity. He gurgled, and one could almost get the impression that he was asking about it. What was it? Why did she have it? And why was she using it to try and beat him off? Already, he was so curious about everything.

Really, _everything_.

Especially things he really shouldn't be curious about.

But no matter—something was happening now.

Shinichi ducked around the swinging stuffed rabbit, threw his short arms around Ran's neck, and planted a big wet baby kiss on Ran's cheek before shuffling backwards, cackling in a way that no child that small should ever cackle. _Ever_. He sounded like pure evil.

Given who his father was, Yukiko would have not have been horribly surprised…

Needless to say, Ran screamed her baby head off.

When the other parents flew into the room in alarm, they found Yukiko laughing so hard that she had tears in her eyes. Baby Shinichi lying on his back on the floor, squealing with laughter while Baby Ran screeched in red-faced fury and attempted to bludgeon her offending companion with her stuffed rabbit.

Poor Bunny-san.

The parents were appropriately bewildered…until Yukiko brushed away the tears and got ahold of herself long enough to explain what had happened. She also added (with something of a snort) that apparently her son was already turning into his father.

Yuusaku declined to comment on that, merely raising an eyebrow at the whole affair.

Meanwhile, Ran had abandoned the toy in favor of attacking Shinichi with tiny clenched fists. The little boy was still curled up on the floor shrieking with laughter, not even making much of an effort to ward off the attack on his person.

It was only when Baby Ran suddenly stopped and sat down and started to cry that he stopped and just looked at her. His little head cocked to one side, and he seemed to regard her with a certain degree of confusion. Why was she crying?

Pushing himself up onto his knees, Shinichi crawled over for closer inspection. Then he reached out and tapped her on the shoulder with exaggerated care. She looked at him with red-tinged eyes, sniffling miserably. It was adorable, save for the whole unhappiness thing.

Shinichi smiled and chirped something in fluent Baby-Talk. None of the adults had any clue what he said, having long since forgotten the language with the onset of learning normal Japanese. But whatever it was that he said, Ran gurgled something back.

Baby Shinichi meeped.

Baby Ran cooed.

Baby Shinichi laughed.

Baby Ran giggled.

Baby Shinichi clambered over and picked up the stuffed rabbit from where it had been so carelessly discarded. Dragging it along by one ear, he pulled it back over and offered it to Ran with a grin.

She took it and hugged it, murmuring something at him.

The parents, meanwhile, were still utterly baffled as to what exactly was going on. Obviously, the children had made up and the fight had been forgotten. But the oft-unpronounceable language of Baby-Speak had left them somewhat baffled.

…but if the children now seemed to be getting along, then did it really matter?

So in the end, everything was all right. Except for Ran's stuffed rabbit toy, who was now in desperate need of a prescription of a needle, thread, and an expert's sewing hand to repair the damage done to his limbs and ears from all the swinging and hitting.

Poor Bunny-san.

"…_and that was when you two met, and how you had your **real** first kiss," Yukiko finished with a shark-like grin. " A beautiful beginning, don't you think? Obviously, nothing much has changed, has it? Congratulations, you two!" She returned the microphone to its stand and went back to her seat to copious amounts of applause._

_Most of the room was roaring with laughter. At the head table, Shinichi and Ran looked properly horrified while the bridesmaids and groomsmen cackled around them. "Mooooooooooom…" Shinichi whined, putting his beet-red face in his hands. "Nooooooo…"_

_Beside him, Ran just looked mortified._

_Maybe letting Yukiko speak at their wedding _hadn't _been the best idea in the world after all…

* * *

_

**PS.** _Idea came from a combination of a couple different things, and was encouraged by **sapphirestars**. I really debated about the ending for a bit before deciding to go for the gusto! And my little cousin has been known to randomly kiss people of any age. She has a lot of love._

_The bunny toy thing was inspired by a fanart I saw once upon a time but have not yet been able to relocate. It was the cutest thing ever, too—wish I could find that website…but I have now done both extremes—I've written 'em old, and I've written 'em young. Yay! Hope you liked it. Thanks for reading and reviewing, and much love, everyone!_


	18. Losing Control: Mature Content

**Title:** Losing Control  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#8—our own world  
**Rating: **R (mature content)  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

The door slammed shut. Ran's back slammed against the door. And Shinichi's hands slammed against the wood paneling on either side of her head. He was standing so close, trapping her between himself and the door. No escape. But did she want to escape, was the question… 

"Shinichi…" she whispered through the darkness. "What are you—"

He cut her off in a way that left her with no desire to argue. And for a very long moment they stayed like that, pressed against the door. But self-control was soon lost to something else, something far more overwhelming, and restraint was soon scattered, like loose feathers, to the four winds.

Of course, Ran didn't really realize that until his thumb dragged down the side of her face and gently teased her chin down, allowing him easy access for further exploration. She didn't really mean to groan into his mouth, but she felt him shudder in response.

Her body moved without her permission, and she tugged at the hem of his shirt, only becoming nervous when she realized she was doing it. His lips broke away from hers long enough for her shaky hands yank the offending garment over his head. But the minute the fabric had been torn out of the way, he returned with a vengeance.

This time his arms snaked around her waist and pulling her away from the door. Her own arms found their way to his neck, lifting her almost entirely off of her feet and right out of her slippers. Her now-bare toes skimmed across the floor, tracing their path from the door to the other side of the room.

The edge of the bed touched the backs of her knees. It was there that he hesitated.

Well, that just wouldn't do, would it?

She let herself fall backwards, reaching up and grabbing at him to make sure that he came with her; her fingers slid helplessly over his skin. But he did follow her, his indecisiveness quelled by her insistence. He landed balanced on his knees and elbows so as not to crush her. Her hands fell to the bedding beneath her, clutching the blue fabric of the blanket in tight bunches.

For one second his lips lingered on hers before he found other places to focus his attention.

Ran let out a breathy gasp as Shinichi located a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. Her head unconsciously tilted in such a way to allow him better access. Her nails raked helplessly across his back, and he hissed at the contact, though whether it was from actual pain or something else entirely, she couldn't have said for certain.

And then he moved, and his lips pressed against hers, claiming them. She was his and his alone. No one else's. Ever. She groaned at his persistence, letting her hands do some wandering of their own. Now it was _his_ turn to emit several small noises as her fingers grazed carefully over a few highly sensitive areas, and she smiled.

She suddenly became very aware of herself and her current state. She was barefoot, in denim capri pants, a camisole, and a hoodie with a zip-up front. The front was almost entirely open, though, and hanging dangerously off her frame, baring her shoulders and upper arms. Her hair was mussed beyond any immediate repair, and clung to her perspiration-damp shoulders with a passion, when it wasn't tangled in Shinichi's ever-roving fingers.

Wait, scratch that. He somehow—she didn't know how, she hadn't even felt his hands there—managed to pull the hoodie's zipper the rest of the way down and proceeded to shove it the rest of the way down her arms before tugging it away, out from under her, and tossing it unceremoniously off to the side.

It wasn't as though he had never seen this much of her before. He had seen her in less—in bathing suits at the beach, for one, and a few incidents during his Conan days. And she had seen him shirtless countless times. But this was different. For starters, they hadn't been tangled together like this. They hadn't been kissing or anything further than that. And they certainly hadn't been sprawled out together on a bed that was far too comfortable…

Her few thoughts were derailed suddenly as he pulled away, rocking back to sit on his knees; his arms slid around her waist, encircling her back and pulling her up with him to sit across his lap. Instinctively, her legs entwined around his waist, her arms around his shoulders and neck to further press their wanting bodies together.

Ran whimpered when one of his hands gently traced up the full length of her spine. There was something about his hands, the way he touched her. He could play her body like a harp, always knowing exactly which chords to strum to make her writhe and gasp beneath his fingers.

It was as if he pushed a button; her back suddenly released and refused to remain upright, and her head and shoulders arched backwards, lax and yielding, so the full weight of her upper body was supported solely by Shinichi's protective arms. She might have groaned—she really wasn't sure. A pleasant fog seemed to have enveloped everything around her, making coherent thought impossible...

... 

And as Ran clung to him...a beeping sound invaded her ears.

Wait…beeping?

_But then…this was…_

"Ran?"

Mouri Ran slowly opened her eyes…and was startled to find Sonoko standing over her, one hand on her shoulder to give her another shake if necessary. "Ran? Are you awake?" Sonoko persisted.

"…bwuh?" Ran murmured, blinking quickly to try and clear her vision a bit.

"You fell asleep in class. You're lucky sensei didn't catch you!" Sonoko explained. "But school's over. We can go home now." There was a bustle around them that suggested much movement. The beeping she'd heard must have been the chiming of the school bell.

Ran finally took a good look around. She was in her science classroom. They had been doing a unit on anatomy, and, she had fallen asleep in the middle of the lecture on…oh yeeeeeeeeah…_that_.

"Ran?" Shinichi said from behind her, and she glanced up at him groggily. He was grinning, which foretold an abundance of teasing for their walk home. "Ready to go?"

Minutes later, they were on the sidewalk on their way home.

"Soooooo…did you have a good nap?" he asked far too casually.

_His lips pressed against hers, claiming them. She was his and his alone, no one else's. Ever._

Ran shrugged. "It was all right. I just didn't sleep very well last night."

_Her_ _back suddenly released, and her head and shoulders arched backwards, lax and unyielding…_

"Have any interesting dreams?" he persisted. "You were making some weird noises. But sensei didn't hear it over everything else. Lucky you! But what were you dreaming about?"

_He shifted again and claimed her, finally giving her exactly what she craved…_

"Nothing, really," she said flatly, hoping to all that was holy that she wasn't blushing. But simply remembering that particular little dream was almost enough to send her back into her own little world.

"Ran!" Shinichi called her back. "Are you sure? You're awfully red."

"I said I didn't dream!" she snapped, resisting the urge to personally wipe that grin _from_ her boyfriend's face before she wiped the ground _with_ his face. But she resisted and turned her attention forward again, already floating back to that dream.

They walked in silence for a moment before she turned to him. "Shinichi…" she began slowly.

"Hmm?" he looked at her quizzically.

Ran hesitated.

_His name finally escaped her, dropping from her lips on the crest of a moan…_

"Would you mind…if I came over to your place tonight?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Sounds good to me!" he said cheerily. "You're always welcome." Then he frowned slightly, and suspicion colored his tone when he spoke next. "Why? Do you have something particular in mind?"

_Her fingers bit into his shoulders, moving with him. So very close, she felt she would burst!_

She shrugged it off with a smile. "Oh, nothing. No reason."

* * *

**PS.** _(purrs happily) Thus marks the first time I have EVER written anything like that. Wow…but Ran wouldn't tell me how Shinichi got her into such a Position or why she went along with it. And he just said something about how gentlemen don't kiss and tell…he looked really happy, though…_

_Yes, there is actually a lemon scene in this story. However, not wanting to get m'self axed by the Powers That Be, I left in the make-out part and removed the actually smexy. If you want to read that, it's over on my LJ. I'll leave it up to all of you to decide what happened next. Hope everyone enjoyed this risqué little story, and hope you'll tune in next time. Thanks again, all, and much love!_


	19. In Vino Veritas

**Title:** In Vino Veritas  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#6—the space between dream and reality  
**Rating: **PG-13  
**Warning: **Some OOC, and references to alcohol. And I don't mean Gin and Vodka, either…  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.

* * *

Sometimes it's better not to know the whole truth. 

I speak from my own personal experience, when Shinichi came back.

He just walked back into my world one day—kid you not. I mean, I got one hell of an apology. And I mean it was about as close to groveling as I have ever seen him get…and then he stood up and kissed me, and I punched him on reflex, and then it was _my_ turn to beg forgiveness. But I got another kiss out of the deal, so it wasn't _too_ horrible of a moment.

Except for Shinichi's bloody nose.

In fairly short order, life returned to normal, almost like what it had been before he had vanished. We walked to school together—he was playing a major game of catch-up to make sure he would graduate with the rest of us. But God knows he's brilliant, so it wasn't exactly a challenge for him. We argued about little things. I took swings at him on a regular basis for a wide variety of offenses. But now I got to kiss him, too. And that was nice.

There were two things that bothered me, though. First of all, despite all appearances, he had changed. He had changed a lot. It wasn't anything physical, or even anything the average acquaintance would notice. But I know him better than that.

There were some little things, but the really big thing I noticed was that he seemed to have this fear of being alone, especially outside after dark. He no longer walked me to my door; at first, he would just make excuses about it, that there was something he urgently needed to do at home.

After a few times, though, I finally just asked him about it. He got very quiet, and I could see the shadows in his expression and his eyes. I didn't push the issue, but I did wait at the gate to his house until he had disappeared inside before I went on my own way home. And he would call me later in the evening, not because he had anything to say, but because he didn't want to be by himself.

It didn't help any when Agasa-hakase pulled me aside when day and confided his own concerns to me. He told me that he had come out of his lab at late hours some nights and still seen lights shining in the windows of Shinichi's house. As near as the doctor could tell, Shinichi was sleeping with the lights on, though I'm not sure how much sleep he was really getting; he always looked so worn.

It took me a few tries to get him to admit to anything, though. He seemed so ashamed. I can sort of understand why he tried to hide it—he's always been a fiercely independent person, and he hates admitting to any sort of weaknesses. But this leads up to the second thing that was bothering me.

He wouldn't tell me _why_.

No matter how many times I asked, Shinichi refused to tell me what had actually happened to him in all the time he had been gone. Especially when I asked him how he had actually gotten the information and evidence necessary for the big bust; I guessed it had all actually happened in the time after the phone calls had stopped. But I just couldn't get him to tell me.

It hurt. I didn't think Shinichi and I really kept secrets from each other. I mean, now I understood why he hadn't really told me anything about where he was or what he was doing. If those goons in black had found him, they would have killed him. But he was still so secretive about the whole thing…

And I was so thrilled to have him back. And I noticed that he was watching me, not the same way he used to, not a concerned friend, but with this little gleam in his eye. Or the day we were walking home from school and suddenly his hand was wrapped around mine…

Yet I was still so curious. But it was always the same: a very quick topic change, a sudden bout of deafness, something shiny would catch his attention, or he would give me this very odd look, and quietly tell me that it was better if I didn't know and not to ask him again. And for the moment, the subject would be dropped, no arguments permitted.

But there was such a profound change in him…I was going crazy not knowing why.

Well, I got my answer. It just took me a while before the real opportunity presented itself.

It was a while after he'd come back, and it was a day for celebration. Gin had been sentenced that day—even without anything else factored in, the murder of Miyano Akemi and the attempted murders of Shinichi and "Sherry" (and what a surprise _that_ turned out to be…) alone ensured that the bastard was never going to see sunlight again. Ever. The wheels of justice had finally turned in our favor.

Well, I got there…and found Shinichi finishing a bottle. I don't know how full it was when he'd started, but the fact that he was chugging the last few gulps was enough for me. I flew into the room and ripped it out of his hands, but it was already empty.

It was at that point that I spotted the rest of it—the remnants of his "celebration" over Gin's demise, I suppose. Or perhaps he was trying to forget something? I didn't know at that point, but there were a couple too many bottles for my liking.

I yelled at him—a lot. I'd held my peace about everything for quite a while now. But seeing him like this…I just snapped. I'd watched my father drink himself stupid, and I hated it. He knew I hated it when Dad drank like that, and yet here he was, completely smashed.

I lost it. Completely lost my temper. He was _not_ going to do that to himself!

And the whole time I was finally letting loose on him—and I was crying by the time I'd run out of things to say—he just stared at me with this blank, glassy-eyed look. Like he didn't understand a word I was saying. For a minute, I was afraid I was going to have to call an ambulance. He was really far gone.

He mumbled my name, confirming what I already knew. While I was standing there, trying my hardest not to completely break down, this evil little notion took form in my mind, just niggling around and begging for my attention.

…I know it was wrong, what I did. I was really taking advantage, and that's wrong. But…I needed to know what had happened. What had changed him so drastically? And he had changed a lot, no matter how much he tried to hide it from me. I just know him better than that. I _had_ to know.

I asked him again—what had happened to him?

…I wish I hadn't.

There's a saying: _In vino veritas_. In wine, there is truth. I've also heard it said that both truth and courage can be found at the bottom of a bottle. Well, I got my truth. I got more truth than I bargained for.

He just sat there, slumped on the couch in a darkened room, and told me everything.

_Everything_.

And I realized that he had been right the whole time: I was better off not knowing. But I couldn't stop him now. I had asked, and by God, I had received. Some awful curiosity kept me glued to that spot. A morbid fascination with what I was hearing, and a desperate need to understand.

He began by confirming a suspicion I'd long since discarded—Conan. And it went downhill from there. Trailing them, the constant threat of discovery and the fear that upon discovery, it would be more than just his life on the line. At some point, they had figured out a way to change him back to normal.

That was when Conan had left, with the intention of coming back as Shinichi. But things had changed, the Bad Guys had reared their heads once more…and he and Hattori-kun had both been forced to flee for their lives, and for ours. I winced at that, remembering the many conversations Kazuha-chan and I had shared during their absence, far too many of which had ended in tears.

At one point, he recounted being shot one night and left for dead in the middle of an empty field in the middle of nowhere. All alone, unable to move, just sprawled on his back staring at the stars and feeling his life slipping away, hovering in that strange place between dreams and delusions, and the pain of reality. He had been rescued, of course—Hattori-kun had found him after a while. But that time, for however long he'd been out there, had left him terrified of being alone in the dark.

And, he said, all he could think about was me and how he was going to be trapped alone in the darkness forever and how he would never see me again.

It really was like listening to someone recounting a dream—or a nightmare. But I know it was real. Shinichi had _lived_ this nightmare. He was telling me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And it was horrible. He was so drunk, I don't think he even knew what he was saying.

And in the end he did something that even I could never have guessed he would do—he cried.

I knew Shinichi better than anyone. I knew he was hurting…but I've known Shinichi my whole life, and I have _never_ seen him break down like that; that just wasn't who he was. Yet here he was, crying like his heart was broken. It could have been that he'd really been holding that in for a long time and finally lost to himself. It could have been that finally having to face what had happened to him was too much. It could have been the alcohol taking over.

I felt so helpless; all I could do was sit there and watch and wait and listen. At some point, I really can't remember when—I had dropped to sit beside him. When he broke down, I didn't even think, I just reached for him. He put up all the resistance of a child being drawn into his mother's arms.

And I cried too. For him, for me, for how stupid we both had been and for all the stupid crap that had happened to us. He was so broken—after he'd run out of words for his story, he just kept crying into my shoulder…begging me not to leave him in the darkness. I just held him, trying to think of something, anything I could say to make him understand.

Shinichi. Baka Shinichi…

We're both idiots, aren't we?

After a while—I really don't know how long we sat there, but it was long enough that the sobs had receded to most hiccups and hoarse breathing—I realized that I was going to have to take charge. He was still drunk, and I was not. Therefore, it fell to me to make sure that he was taken care of.

Getting Shinichi upstairs to the safety of his own bed was a challenge. He's skinny, but it's all muscle, and he could barely even keep his feet under him. I hauled him up the stairs pretty much by my own strength alone, and then dragged him the rest of the way. I didn't even bother with pajamas or anything, I just got him into bed and tucked him in.

It made me think of Conan, and that hurt.

But he just lay there quietly, watching me fuss over him, and then he caught my hand when I was going to straighten up. And he just held on. He wasn't hurting me or anything, but he was holding on tightly enough that I couldn't easily pull away. And it didn't bother me at all.

Just as he finally drifted off, I swore I heard him murmur my name. "Ran…"

"Shinichi?" I asked.

"…love you…" he breathed as he finally fell over the edge into sleep.

That wasn't the first time he had told me that. And still…

I sat and waited until he fell asleep, and hung around a little bit longer to make sure he was all right. But he was breathing normally, he didn't seem to be getting sick. I didn't really know what else to do. So I sat and just watched him for a minute, his fingers still wrapped possessively around my hand, a feeble attempt to prevent me from leaving outright.

He looked far more peaceful, curled up in slumber. I couldn't quite stop myself from leaning down to kiss his forehead. I was sort of upset about the Conan thing, but for the most part, it just made me very sad, and in light of everything else, it just didn't seem as important as it might have been otherwise. But hopefully, we had gotten this all out of our systems, and could try to move on with our lives. Together.

I came by again the next day, later in the afternoon. Sure enough, he looked quite a bit worse for the wear. He was probably praying for death and wishing for someone to turn off the sun when he woke up, given how much he'd downed the previous evening.

But he didn't seem to remember a whole lot. He knew I had been there, and he recognized (quite sheepishly, I might add) that he hadn't just overstepped his limits, he had left his limits in the dust ten miles back; he accepted my admonishments without complaint, and offered me a very sincere apology. I asked if he remembered anything else, and he looked confused, and then horrified and concerned—and asked if he'd done something he shouldn't have?

I'm pretty sure he was referring to something in regards to my person—as in, inappropriate conduct. I pointed out that he was completely uninjured, which answered his question. He didn't seem to remember telling me anything, so I let it go…

Although I do wonder. He had to have noticed that I stopped asking; he's too observant to have missed something that obvious. And there are a lot of other things, really little things, that have me thinking he remembers more than he initially told me. For one, he doesn't seem quite so afraid of the dark anymore. Maybe because he understands that he's not alone there anymore?

Still, neither of us says anything.

If he really doesn't remember telling me everything, and I say something, then that will just bring about a whole slew of new problems. I don't want to take a risk and open that Pandora's Box.

I wonder sometimes if Shinichi will ever get over this whole complex he has. He knows I can take care of myself, and still he feels the need to try and rescue me and protect me. I'm not a damsel in distress, and I'm not going to break from a little rough handling.

I'll ask him about it eventually. Someday, when this is a lot further behind us and the wounds have healed a bit more. Maybe then he can tell me the whole story—without the assistance of alcohol.

Until then, I'll just do what I've been doing: bop him on the head when he's being a moron, listen to his cases and mystery babble (though he's toned that down a lot)…and enjoy having him back in my life, and treasure the good changes that have come about. And hey—I can still kiss him whenever I want.

But I promise him this—and I told him so: I will personally beat him senseless if he _ever_ pulls that kind of a stunt with the alcohol again. _Ever_.

Hey, someone has to watch out for him.

* * *

**PS. **_And Ran finally gets her POV fic!_

_This one…I don't know. There's so many post-series stories that picture everything as being all sweetness and light—I've written them myself. So I thought it might be interesting to take another course. I know this was probably horribly OOC, but depending on how things go…you just never know. Wound up a little weird at the end, but oh well._

_And this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that when I have a bad day/week/month/life, I take it out on the characters in my fics and make them go all angsty to make myself feel better, nope, nope, nope! Nothing like that at all! (grin) Thanks, everyone, and much love!_

_**From the Author: **I've been going at this Challenge for three months now, and am just shy of being two-thirds of the way done. A few days ago, this little challenge series broke **ten thousand views**--by a LOT. I just wanted to thank everyone who's stuck with me this far, and hope you'll stay around for the rest of it. Lots still to come! Thank you, everyone!_


	20. Singles' Awareness Day

**Title:** Singles' Awareness Day  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#25—fence  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.  
**Summary: **It's Valentine's Day, and Ran has a present for a special someone...

* * *

February fourteenth. Valentine's Day. 

It was circled in bright red on the calendar.

Ran sighed. She was willing to bet her bottom dollar that Shinichi had forgotten.

It hadn't been very long since he'd just appeared again. Gone for ages and ages…then one day, he just appeared on her doorstep with a smile (the same one that made her go weak at the knees without fail), and a "Hey, what's up?" She had been far too stunned to even think of questioning him, she was just so happy to have him back. The explanation had come later, and not even from him.

Having personal contacts in the police force had its perks, and she had gotten quite a story before the tale broke in the papers. Shinichi had meant it when he said he was on a big case—one that now had all of Japan in an uproar, and all the major police units around the country mobilizing and bouncing information back and forth to bring down an enormous crime syndicate.

And in the midst of all this chaos, Shinichi had wandered back into her life, plopped down on the couch, kicked his feet up, and fallen asleep. She, meanwhile, was still standing at the door, holding it wide open, in full-blown shock.

She had beaten him later, of course. That was just how she did things.

And now here they were, merely weeks later, and it was Valentine's Day. A day for lovers, for hopeful girls to express their feelings for the important men in their lives. She had _giri_ chocolate made for her father, for the Conan's friends (who had been quite brokenhearted when the bespectacled boy had returned to his parents in America, but still visited their beloved Ran-neechan), for a few other random adults, and one for Hattori-kun, to be delivered the next time she saw him.

She had talked with Kazuha earlier in the week about the big event. Her Osakan friend had been extremely vague about her intentions, but Ran had planned to call Kazuha later in the evening and demand details. Hopefully, juicy ones.

Then again, Ran would probably be expected to spill her own details because there was one more person she had chocolate for—Shinichi. But his was different from the others, though. His was _honmei _chocolate. The real deal.

After disappointments the last couple of years, she was finally going to be able to give him the chocolate. And maybe she could finally get her answer. Although he was back (and she still hadn't gotten a real explanation!), she hadn't really seen him much. The police were in constant contact with him over the details of the Organization.

He was extremely apologetic about the whole thing. And she was understanding, continually patient. There was not much else she could do, really. He was here—that was all she had really wanted. Given the nature of the Big Case, she was willing to put things off for a while longer.

Like this morning, for instance. It was like a good many mornings—the police needed something, blah blah, blah, could he come down and help them out before classes, etc. She had ended up walking with Sonoko, wishing desperately he was there so she could give him her gift. It was Valentine's Day, after all, and she couldn't resist, the opportunity was just too perfect to come clean and tell him the goddamn truth.

So here she was, standing by the doorway of their classroom clutching a carefully wrapped box containing _honmei_ chocolate—lover's chocolate, she'd heard it called—with Shinichi's name written on the front. And he was sitting in his desk…

…surrounded by ninety percent of the class' female population.

Many of whom were offering him the small boxes that traditionally contained chocolate.

He looked absolutely bewildered, just this side of terrified.

It was almost funny, if she hadn't felt her heart drop juuuuuuuust a bit.

He really was so popular with the ladies, and since starting his public detective work he'd had an actual fan club. Hadn't she teased him about that once? But now, since the story of the Black Ops had broken, he was officially a hero. And with that came the requisite hero-worship.

But Shinichi really did look panicked. Shouldn't he be thrilled at all the attention?

"All right, everyone quiet down!" Sensei entered the room, and the girls scattered with varying groans of protest and resignation. A few of them simply left the gift boxes on his desk, but most of them carried their candy-coating offerings back to their own seats, possibly to implore him with later.

She hurried to her own desk, carefully hiding her own box behind her back. Later, she supposed. But she kept an eye on Shinichi. He looked quite embarrassed as he slipped those few boxes off the desk and squirreled them away.

But she did catch his eye as she sank into her own seat, and he grinned. "Yo, Ran! What's up?"

She hesitated for just a moment, then shook her head and sat down, nonchalantly slipping the box from behind her back into her satchel. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

He frowned suspiciously, but turned his attention back to the teacher at the front of the room.

_

* * *

_

Okay, take two.

Fast forward to lunchtime.

And the fan girls were once again on the prowl.

A note had mysteriously appeared on her desk during a moment when she had looked away. She recognized the handwriting instantly, and smiled lightly at its message of _Rooftop. Lunch. Girls are scaring me!_ Years of dealing with Shinichi and his little quirks had given her the ability to see the little message for what it truly was: an invitation.

Shinichi had bolted the second class was dismissed, fast enough to break the sound barrier. Ran made her exit with a bit more decorum, and followed the trail he'd left up towards the roof. It wasn't hard to track, he had apparently been moving fast enough to leave burn marks on the tile floor.

Okay, not really.

But either way, up to the roof she went, lunch in one hand and chocolate in the other.

Sure enough, he was already there. "Hey!" he greeted her cheerily as he moved over to let her sit beside him. "Sorry about this morning. I didn't know I was going to get mobbed."

"You and your fan club," she said airily, taking the proffered seat, hiding the gift box behind her. "For a minute there, I thought they were going to eat you or something." He shuddered, and she laughed.

Lunch was a quiet, enjoyable affair, with simple conversation. It was like stepping back in time, back to a time when they had always been together, before two men in black coats had threatened to tear them apart for good. And best of all, no fan girls saw fit to burst in on them.

As the last grain of rice was merrily devoured and the last chopstick stowed away, Shinichi leaned back and grinned. "So, you're hiding something behind your back. Whatcha got?"

Ran smiled and sighed. She should have known he'd noticed. Not much got by him, did it? But he obviously hadn't put two and two together in any sense. Soooooo… "Oh, something," she said lightly.

"For me?" he cheered; she could actually see him perking up. Really, he could be such a child!

"Maaaaaaaybe…" she replied with feigned caution.

She really wasn't expecting him to come at her. But to her open amazement, he set his now-empty Bento box down beside him…and lunged at her. Her quicker-than-average reflexes held, though, and she managed to jump up and dive out of the way, keeping the box carefully behind her.

Shinichi landed on his hands and knees, but was back on his feet in an instant, sidling towards her with an almost predatory gleam in his eyes. "Come on, tell me! What is it?"

She knew he had to have guessed. But it was just the simple pleasure of the chase, of laughing together and playing a little, no matter how silly it all seemed…they were together. She knew she couldn't avoid him forever—he was as fast on his feet as she was. But for the moment, it was just a fun game.

He finally got within arm's reach, and started trying to reach behind her to grab it, continually pushing her backwards as he grappled for the prize clutched in both hands behind her. "Come on, would you just give it to me already!" he half-whined, almost stepping on her foot.

She merely laughed and continued twisting to always juuuuuuuust keep it out of his reach. Teasing was just another facet of a relationship that was already incredibly complicated.

And then suddenly she felt the chill of chain-link fence against her back. The trouble was that Shinichi was reaching behind her, and his hands were effectively trapped between her and the fence that ran around the whole perimeter of the school's roof.

This also meant that she was trapped between the fence and Shinichi…oh dear.

He didn't seem to be thinking too much about that, though. He simply grinned at what he perceived to be his victory. "Gotcha! Now…what do we have here?"

She felt his hand fumbling around behind her, and she fidgeted. "Hey, watch it!"

"Well, give it to me!" he whined.

Ran mock-sighed. "All right, if you insist." She tried to ignore the fluttering in her chest as she wiggled a bit and managed to get one hand free to hold the box, wrapped in red paper (his favorite color), up between their faces, at eye level; she hoped it might help hide the fact that she was blushing wildly. "Here, this is for you." The butterflies in her stomach morphed into baby chicks, pecking at her. "Happy Valentine's Day, Shinichi."

He was still a moment, just looking at it. "That's…" Then he wriggled one of his hands out from behind her to take it. And his triumphant smirk softened to more of a real smile.

She smiled in return. Meanwhile, the baby chicks grew into chickens and continued to peck at her insides. It was a good thing she was walled in, because she was pretty sure she couldn't have stayed steadily standing on her own. Her free hand was shaking.

He straightened up, so he was standing back a bit and looking at the box. Ran couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed at the increased distance…

…until he leaned back in and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

The chickens mutated into full-grown turkey vultures, flopped over, and died.

Shinichi pulled back, and now she could see that he was blushing. "Thank you."

"…anytime…" she managed, feeling a royal idiot. She knew her face was probably glowing brightly enough to light up the entire school; such a color should not be found in Nature's palette.

He stayed like that for a moment, and she wondered if he was going to kiss her For Real…

…and the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period.

Ran let out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding. Shinichi looked faintly embarrassed and stepped back entirely, chuckling nervously. "So…we should probably get back to class?" he said lamely, and she could clearly see him mentally smacking himself in the head.

After pondering for a second, Ran moved as though to walk past him, but paused and rose up on her tiptoes to press a kiss of her own to his cheek. Rocking back onto her heels, she smiled. "Yes, we should." And she continued merrily on her way, trying very hard not to sing and dance…or spontaneously combust, for that matter.

Scooping up the remains of their lunches, she turned and gave him a Look. He hadn't moved an inch. "Shinichi?" she called, waving to him. "Come on, we have to go!"

He stared for a second longer before he seemed to shake himself out of his stupor and followed. And Ran might not have been a great detective like he was, but there was no way she could miss the enormous grin on his face.

Happy Valentine's Day, indeed.

* * *

**PS.** _For those of you who don't know, I am a Valentine Grinch. I am insanely cynical about the holiday, which I usually refer to as Happy Make Single People Feel Like Shit Day. Why, yes, I am incredibly bitter! However did you guess? Either way, hope you liked the story. Figured somebody might as well have a good National Sex—I mean, Valentine's Day. Also, we're officially two-thirds of the way through this challenge for Shinichi and Ran. Ten more to go! Later, all!_

_**Addendum: **I keep getting to add things to this, but a ginormous thank you and lots of shiny silver cyber-donuts to **YumeTakato, the two-hundredth reviewer!** I lurvs you! Thanks again to everyone, you are all angels amongst non-angelic things :) _

_**Quick cultural note:**_  
**Giri:** _chocolate given to male friends and acquaintances on Valentine's Day; cheaper, lesser quality_  
**Honmei:** _finer, more expensive chocolate given to express more serious feelings; given to crushes, boyfriends, and/or husbands. There is a distinct difference between the two qualities of chocolate, so no guy can really mistake giri for honmei._


	21. Misinterpretation

**Title:** Misinterpretation  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#14—radio-cassette player  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.  
**Summary: **We all make mistakes. Some are just more embarrassing than others...

* * *

The squad car radio crackled loudly with the relaying of various messages. Megure-keibu of the Tokyo Metro Force kept one ear on the radio, but overall he really wasn't paying attention. 

It did, however, catch his attention when his duty phone rang. That wasn't something to be ignored. He fished it out with one hand, keeping the other firmly on the steering wheel, and answered. "Hai, Megure."

"Keibu."

"Shiratori-kun?"

"We just got a call from a little boy who said that Daddy was killing Mommy, send the police," the officer said, but there was a little bit of _something_ in his tone that made Megure pause.

The Inspector frowned. "…there's something you're not telling me."

"Well, the call was from Conan-kun."

"Conan-kun?" Megure repeated, startled. Conan was the four-year-old Kudo boy—Ran and Shinichi's son. He'd caused quite a stir (and more than a few rumors) because he had been born nine months _to the day_ after the wedding. The proud, doting parents had been fairly mum about that particular issue, but they had both jumped into their new roles with enthusiasm, and the three of them had always seemed like a happy, tight-knit young family.

"Yes, Conan-kun," Shiratori repeated. "I don't know. All I could get out of him was that Daddy was killing Mommy, send help." The officer sighed. "You know the family. I thought it would be best to send someone who knows them, because something about this doesn't seem right."

Megure sighed. "I'll head over there. Thanks for the call." He hung up and now completely ignoring the radio, turned the car onto an intersecting street, making a beeline for the Kudo mansion. He'd been there many times, but never for anything like this.

Vaguely, he wondered if all those crime scenes were finally getting to Shinichi…

Well, he would find out when he got there.

_

* * *

_

_Twenty minutes later…_

It took four tries at ringing the bell before he got a slurred "Huh?" over the intercom. In spite of its recently-acquired Neanderthal qualities, he recognized it as Shinichi and smiled in spite of a potentially bad situation. The guy was decidedly _not_ a morning person. "Shinichi-kun, it's Megure."

There was some mumbling that sounded suspiciously like, "What the hell…" but a moment later the door opened, and a tired-looking Detective of the East appeared in the doorway. Clad in pajamas with hair that officially defied all laws of gravity, he peered at the Inspector with half-open eyes. After all, it was going on two in the morning. "Megure, what's going on?"

"We got a call from your house," Megure replied. "Just wanted to see what was going on."

"A call?" Shinichi was still trying to wake up. "What about?"

"Well…" at this point, Megure shifted uncomfortably. "The call was from—"

"I called you!" Conan appeared, poking his head out from behind his father's leg. "I called!"

"Conan?" Shinichi frowned in confusion. "Why did you call the police?"

"Because you were killing Mommy! And when you see bad stuff, you're s'posed to call the police!" the little boy said tearfully, pointing an accusatory finger up at his now-bewildered father. "I heard you! You killed Mommy!"

Megure looked down at the little boy, then up at his longtime friend and occasional partner.

Shinichi stared at his son long and hard before turning and hollering back into the house, "Hey, Ran? Can you come down here for a minute?" Then he turned back to the Inspector. "I'm really sorry you came all the way out here, I really don't—"

"Shinichi?" Ran appeared in the doorway behind her husband, yawning as she tied the knot on her bathrobe sash. "What's going on? Megure-keibu, what are you doing here?"

"Mommy!" Conan cried, throwing himself at his mother's legs. "Mommy, you're not dead! Daddy didn't kill you!" He clung to her bathrobe-clad legs with all the desperation and possessiveness a four-year-old could possibly muster.

Now it was Ran's turn to look lost. "Killed me…Conan?" She gave Shinichi and Megure a Look. "What in the world is going on here?" She was being a bit harsh, but she had just been hauled out of her nice, warm, comfy bed to the front door under extremely questionable circumstances. She wanted an explanation so she could go back to bed.

Shinichi took a deep breath and let his tantei side come to the front. He bent down and put his hands on his knees to look his son in the face. "Conan, you need to tell us a few things, okay?" he said calmly, years of experience at questioning witnesses come to the fore. "Now, you said you called Megure-keibu because you thought I was killing your mother?" The last was said with a touch of disbelief.

Still clutching at his mother's knees, the little boy nodded grimly.

"Why did you think that?" Shinichi prodded.

"Because I heard it!" Conan replied tearfully.

"What did you hear?" Shinichi asked. Great Detective or not, it was late, he was extremely tired, and he had just been woken up to a most bizarre situation. His mind wasn't quite there yet. And besides, everyone has their off-days.

"I was gonna ask if I could sleep with you and Mommy 'cause I was scared," the little boy said, obviously confused. "But your door was shut and I heard Mommy and she was making lotsa noises and breathing hard like when I run too much and she sounded like she hurt herself! And then she screamed and it went really quiet. And she kept saying 'Oh God, oh God.'" He looked up at his mother curiously. "Were you praying for help, Mommy?"

There was a pause.

Then the penny dropped, and everyone was suddenly wide awake as it clicked.

Ran, still standing with her son clutching at her legs and one of her hands on top of his head, unconsciously reached up with her other hand to further close the V-shaped neckline of her bathrobe. Her eyes were wide, and she was looking everywhere but at the other human beings. She looked _mortified_.

Shinichi coughed delicately and straightened back up. He cleared his throat, and folded one arm across his chest, reaching up with the other to cover his mouth. He had gone quite pale, visible even in the dim light. "Ah…" he began, then paused to clear his throat again, "I'm sorry you had to come all the way out here, Keibu."

Megure blinked once. Twice. Then he nodded, tipped his hat, and said, "Well, sorry for the intrusion. You folks have a pleasant night." He couldn't _quite_ keep himself from smiling as the faces of the young couple flared with an interesting shade of red that was bright enough to light up the night sky. The portly inspector turned and headed back to his car.

Shinichi and Ran watched him retreat, still blushing furiously. Their young son looking up at them curiously. "What?" the four-year-old boy piped innocently, tugging at his mother's robe.

"Conan…" Ran began, then shook her head. "We'll talk about it in the morning." She figured that was _at least_ how long it would take for her to be able to look anyone in the eye. Nodding, her equally-embarrassed husband ushered them both back inside and closed the door.

Had either of them glanced down the walkway before they shut the front door of their house, they would have been treated to the rare sight of Megure-keibu sitting in his squad car, laughing his head off.

* * *

**PS.** _Ah, a parent's nightmare._ _I had this idea a while back, and I just _had _to use it. I couldn't help it. Much love to **sapphirestars** for the discussion that led up to me remembering this idea. Said conversation was…ehehehe…that was fun! But yes, I finally joined the rank of those who have written Ran and Shinichi with a son named Conan. Ph34r me…or something…_

_Oh yeah, and random little scene that just wouldn't fit into the actual story, but I had to use it…put Shinichi, Ran, Conan, and all the parentals in one room. Insert one question, shake well, and enjoy…

* * *

_

"So," Eri asked half-teasingly, "when can I expect another little bundle of joy?"

"Okaasaaaaaaaan…" Ran half-whined while Shinichi snickered.

"Bundle of joy?" Conan repeated, confused.

"That's sometimes what people call a baby," Yuusaku explained to his grandson. "When you were born, everyone called you a little bundle of joy."

"A baby?" the little boy frowned, then nodded that he understood.

"Would you like a little brother or sister, Conan?" Yukiko asked, ever the doting grandmother.

The little boy nodded empathically. "One of the kids in my class at preschool just got a little brother. He's all tiny and stuff. And I asked Mommy when I would get a little brother."

Yukiko chuckled. "What did Mommy say?"

Conan replied innocently, "She said I would get one when I started sleeping in my own bed."

* * *

_Poor Ran. I pick on Shinichi too much—time to give her a little bit of her due as well, ya know? And if anyone asks me where the implied kiss was in this chapter…ahem. Read it again more carefully. You'll figure it out (grin). Thanks for reading, all. Much love!_


	22. Anatomy of a Kiss

**Title:** Anatomy of a Kiss  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#23—candy  
**Rating: **PG-13 (for a tiny bit of suggestive dialogue)  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.  
**Summary: **This is the stuff they really should be teaching us in school!

* * *

"You know what I don't get?" 

"Hmm?"

"Kissing."

…well, that wasn't _quite_ what Shinichi was expecting. He lowered the book he was reading to his chest and arched his back enough so that he was looking up at Ran, sitting on the arm of the couch—she seemed upside down from his odd vantage point, sprawled on his back across the entire sofa. "Okay, where the hell did that come from?"

Ran was silent for a moment, twirling the lollipop in between her fingers before she replied, "Well, I just don't get it." She raised an eyebrow at him and popped the red candy on a stick back into her mouth. It was cherry-flavored, he guessed, based solely on the way it was dying her mouth and tongue a bright scarlet color.

Immediately, Shinichi's mind gleefully started skimming through entire lists of possibilities as to where he could go from there. He did, however, manage to keep himself in check. "Why don't you share with the class, and we'll see if we can't clear up some of this confusion?"

"Well, for starters, who came up with the whole idea of it?" Ran asked, her words a bit muffled by the lollipop stuck in the corner of her mouth. "Who thought up this idea that people could show affection to each other by pressing their lips together?"

Shinichi snickered. "Well, if you wanted to go that route, you could also ask who came up with the idea of kissing other—" He was cut off as Ran picked up a pillow and smacked him in the face with it.

"Kissing is with the lips," she said haughtily, "not the tongue or the pelvis, thank you very much."

"Hmm…" he reined himself in and genuinely thought about her question, "I honestly don't know where it started. I don't know if anyone does—it's one of those things that's been lost to history, I guess."

Ran withdrew the lollipop from her mouth and lapped at it innocently, ignoring the fact that Shinichi's face had gone as red as the candy. "All right, let's say that it's been around forever. But then whose brilliant idea was it to add that whole tongue thing in there?"

Shinichi raised an eyebrow; he was still looking at her upside down, but he'd put his hands behind his head for a more comfortable reclining pose. "Well, I know it's sometimes called French kissing, so one could assume that it was a French invention."

"But how exactly is it supposed to work?"

"…you just lost me," Shinichi frowned. In truth, though, his mind was racing almost as fast as his heart was pounding. This was a topic that had haunted his dreams for many a year…

"Does anyone actually know how to do it right? Like, really right?" she wondered out loud, and he forced himself to push his little fantasies to the back of his mind and refocus. "Heck, the whole kissing thing seems pretty ambiguous to me. Nobody really tells you much beyond 'go mash mouths.'" She slumped against the back of the couch, returning the lollipop to its home in the side of her mouth. "This is the stuff they should be teaching us in school!"

Shinichi was silent. He hadn't actually worked up the nerve to kiss her yet. Granted, he wasn't exactly brilliant when it came to women, but Ran had pretty much just sent up a whole fireworks show that spelled out the world CLUE in the sky. God, even Hattori could have picked up on this one!

…he made a mental note to call Kazuha later and offer a friendly suggestion. It had certainly gotten his attention, and Hattori did need all the help he could get. But back to the topic at hand.

Swinging his legs off the couch, he sat up and set his book aside. "Surely you can't be serious."

"I'm totally serious," Ran said airily before she grinned. "And don't call me Shirley."

_Should've seen that coming, _Shinichi privately lamented his idiotic choice of words. But a smile crossed his face in short order. "All right," he stood up suddenly and marched over to stand in front of her. "All right!" His hands reached down and grabbed hers and pulled her to her feet. "Let's figure this out. Right now." He did take a moment, though, to admire how adorable Ran looked, with her eyes all wide and surprised, and that lollipop stick hanging out of her mouth.

"What're we doing now?" she asked.

"We're going to work through this kiss dilemma and see if we can answer your question," he said firmly. Ignoring Ran's now bewildered look, he cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Okay, first…first, you're going to hafta lose the candy."

Ran stared at him. "You're…serious?"

"Totally," he said. "And I'll even let you call me Shirley."

She smiled at the jibe and removed the offending candy, returning it to its wrapper and setting it aside for later. But as she did so, Shinichi could have sworn he head her murmur that sounded suspiciously like, "He got the hint" under her breath.

"Okay, what's first?" he asked.

"Well, I guess where you put your arms?" Ran suggested. "Need to be standing close together…" They moved so there was almost no space between their torsos. "Now, the girl usually puts her arms up here…" she reached up and slid her arms around his neck.

"So my arms would go here?" he asked as his hands slowly snaked their way around to find a comfortable resting place on her lower back. "Is that okay?" For some reason, his voice chose that moment to drop about an octave and a half.

"Yes, I think that's right," she breathed, trying unsuccessfully to suppress a shiver. "Okay, then…where do our your noses go so nobody ends up all bloody?" Ran went on, feeling the blush rising. She felt…well, kind of silly, but at the same time, it was awfully nice to be this close…

"Well, one of us goes one way, one of us goes the other way so they kind of move around each other," Shinichi said, leaning a bit closer and tilting his head, feeling his heart rate jump through the roof…

Unfortunately, Ran had tilted in the same direction, and they crashed into each other.

"Oww…" Ran instinctively jerked her head back and removed one arm from his neck to move her hand to her nose with the intent of checking for any signs that it was no longer in one piece.

Shinichi did much the same thing. "I thought we were trying to not do that," he rubbed at his own nose, then grinned. "I see lots and lots of pretty stars…" Apparently satisfied that nothing was broken, his hand returned to her back.

"Okay, let's try that again," Ran laughed sheepishly, imitating his move in returning her hand to its previous position. "How about we discuss this first? You go to your right, I'll go to mine." A tiny gasp escaped her as the hand on her back suddenly applied pressure to pull her right up against him.

He nodded, and obligingly turned his head. Hers did the same in response, and they inched closer together, until their noses slid past each other. It was there that they stopped, and the first _real_ inklings of uncertainty manifested themselves.

"…now what?" Shinichi whispered; his breath was warm. And minty, it was minty too. He had good taste in toothpaste. "This is your project. So lead on, captain, my captain."

"Well…" Ran replied nervously as she swallowed hard; thinking was proving to be a bit of a challenge. "We've got the hands in the right place, we're not going to break our noses against each other…so I guess next would be the actual kiss, right?"

"I suppose so…" his tone was even, but the hands on her back trembled ever so slightly.

"For a first kiss, how hard of a kiss should it be, do you think?" Ran asked.

"I think that depends on how strongly you feel about the person you're kissing," Shinichi said with honest thoughtfulness. "If you really love that person…" The thought trailed off.

They were still standing, frozen, in that same posture, carefully leaning into each other and each other's arms, heads tilted, perhaps an inch of increasingly-warmer air separating their lips. Ran took a deep breath—it was now or never. "So…how hard would you kiss me?"

Shinichi was silent for a moment. "Let's find out…"

The distance between them disappeared as he lowered his head.

In terms of posture, it was excellent, with arms positioned just so, and noses clear of each other (though breathing remained decidedly optional). Emotionally, though…

Exquisite.

And if the force of a kiss was a clear sign of a person's feelings towards their partner…

_Finally…_

When it became apparent that both of them were ready to black out from a lack of oxygen, they let go, not really moving apart per se. And there was a long moment of silence before Shinichi finally spoke.

"…it was strawberry," he said softly.

"Hmm?" Ran murmured, confused.

"I thought your lollipop was cherry flavored," he explained. "But it tastes like strawberries."

"Oh…yeah…" Ran breathed. "…I'm glad we got that whole thing figured out."

"Proof that I can take a hint?" Shinichi grinned wickedly, and then chuckled when she blushed the color of the lollipop she'd been eating earlier. Then he suddenly went on. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to propose an experiment."

"Hmm?"

"Well, you mentioned French kissing earlier…" he said, his nerves finally showing through as a lovely pink color flared on his cheeks. "Would you care to help me figure that one out? In the name of science, of course."

Ran smiled, feeling her own face heat up. "Well…I suppose if it's for science…"

And the experiment began in earnest.

* * *

**PS.** _This was really the result of a mini-challenge one of my friends gave me. She's not an anime fan or a fanfic author, but she knows I am, and so she challenged me to put the following line in a story: "Kissing is with the lips, not the tongue or the pelvis!" And the rest just grew around it. So Jewelsy, there you have it!_

_You want the scary part? I actually looked up kissing on Wikipedia. The article is actually really interesting. But let it never be said that I don't do research! Consider this my Lurker Day prezzie--socchan over on LJ decreed today to be a day for lurkers to make themselves known, so Happy Lurker Day! Thanks again for reading, everyone. The wonderful compliments mean a lot to me—much love, everyone!_


	23. Sitting on My Shoulder

**Title:** Sitting on My Shoulder  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#1—look over here  
**Rating: **PG (a couple of swear words)  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.  
**Summary: **Okay, Shinichi, it's official. You need some _serious_ help.

* * *

It could never be said that Kudo Shinichi was not an intelligent person. Far from it—he was brilliant, an intellectual whiz. However, there was one area in which Shinichi was definitely lacking in both knowledge and common sense.

And it was for this reason that our beloved hero found himself sitting on the floor in the school hallway, his back against the wall; there was a book in his hands that he was ignoring in favor of a different distraction. Namely, the smaller version of himself floating beside his head, a being who was perhaps as tall as his hand.

But this wasn't a normal looking Shinichi. In place of his favored blue suit was an elegant black tuxedo. And our everyday Shinichi definitely didn't have two small crimson horns sticking out of his dark hair, nor did he possess a long, forked tail. And he generally didn't have a pitchfork laying across his lap.

And Devil-Shinichi—our favorite detective's own personal shoulder-devil—was on the prowl for something good with which to torment his mortal charge. "Okay, so tell me again about this girl?" he asked, an evil glint in his blue eyes.

"You already know about Ran," Shinichi replied, flipping a page in spite of the fact that he wasn't actually reading the book. "Now leave me alone, would you please?"

"Awww, come on!" the tiny devil cajoled. "I don't know why you're so determined to _not_ do anything about her. I'm sure you already know this, but in case you missed it—she's HOT."

Shinichi whipped around and started to respond, most likely a snarky response…and then Ran came out of the classroom and strolled by. She didn't seem to notice him at first, as Sonoko was tugging at her arm and asking her a question about going shopping.

Suddenly, the Great Detective forgot that he A) had a shoulder-devil, and B) was currently supposed to be arguing with his shoulder-devil. His attention had been completely diverted elsewhere, thank you very much.

The way she smiled indulgently at Sonoko's tirades…

The sparkle in her blue eyes…

The little wave she gave him when she noticed him there…

The shininess of her long, dark hair…

So very…shiny…

Unfortunately, Devil-Shinichi was not horribly happy about being ignored. "Hey!" he frowned, and began stabbing Shinichi in the head with his pitchfork and kicking the sides of his face in an attempt to draw attention. "Helloooo? Hey, you! Look over here, I'm talking to you, dammit!"

His mortal charge, thoroughly distracted by a pair of beautiful…_eyes_, didn't seem to notice the assault on his skull. He just kept staring at the wonder (and shininess!) that was his lady-love.

Devil-Shinichi finally gave up and sat down on Shinichi's shoulder, his chin in his hands. "I can wait as long as you can…" he sighed forlornly, giving the mortal boy a nudge with his elbow. "Jerk…"

Shinichi just murmured something that sounded suspiciously like, "Shiny…"

_-o-_

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

Shinichi pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers and sighed. There were two physical manifestations of his subconscious…and they _really_ liked to argue. And Shinichi was getting a headache.

"Shinichiiiiii!" Angel-Shinichi tugged on his mortal charge's ear and whined, "He's picking on me again! Tell him that my outfit doesn't make me look like Kaitou Kid, would you?"

Obligingly, Shinichi turned his head and looked. "Well, the white suit, sort of. But your shirt's not blue and you're not wearing a red tie. And you've got a halo instead of a hat and wings instead of a cape. So…sort of, but not really."

Angel-Shinichi frowned. "I think you're evading the question."

Shinichi shrugged and went back to the book in his hands. "Take it how you will."

There was a moment of quiet before Angel-Shinichi cleared his throat. "So, Shinichi…"

"Hmm?"

"Can you tell us why you haven't made a move on Ran yet?"

There was an audible _screech_ as Shinichi skidded to a stop. "Excuse me?"

"Well, we've been talking about it—and trust me, we already know your reasons," the shoulder-angel chuckled. "We are a part of your mind, after all. We know more about you than you do. But we were wondering if you could actually tell us."

"Forget it," Shinichi waved a hand, narrowly missing nailing Angel-Shinichi with a blow that undoubtedly would have sent his smaller self flying into the wall. "Keep your immortal noses out of my business, thank you very much."

"But…" Angel-Shinichi protested, "Shinichi, we are you."

"Yeah, and you're wasting time," Devil-Shinichi broke in. "I know what kinda things happen in those dreams you have about that girl of yours. I'm proud that you have that kind of an imagination!"

Shinichi fought down the urge to swat them both with his math book and continued stalking away.

Angel-Shinichi frowned. "We need to do something, and fast.. He refuses to listen to us, and he won't admit that he's scared." He turned to his demonic companion. "Evil is your department. Any ideas?"

Devil-Shinichi pondered for a minute before he grinned and, in a voice loud enough that Shinichi could hear it even as far away as he was, proudly crowed, "…I think you should kiss her!"

Shinichi whirled fast enough to create a sonic boom. "WHAAAAT?"

"I said I think you should kiss her."

"I know. I heard you. That was more of a 'what are you smoking?' kind of 'what?'"

"Oh, I'm sorry. My bad."

"That's okay. Now explain yourself."

Devil-Shinichi managed to not roll his eyes. "Honestly, kid, what do I have to do? Sing it for you?" he sighed. "No, that's probably a bad idea, given our musical…um, yeah. Okay, look. You like her—a lot. She likes you—a lot. So why the hell aren't you getting your mack on?"

Angel-Shinichi sighed and facepalmed. "I'll apologize on his behalf, since he doesn't know the meaning of the word. But amazingly enough, he does have a point—well, sort of. Why are you so adverse to doing anything that might actually get you a chance with her? Realize that we already know, we just want you to tell us."

Shinichi was surprisingly silent.

"You know," Angel-Shinichi said softly, perching on his charge's shoulder, "it's all right to be scared. At least, I would like to hope you know that."

"I'm not scared!" Shinichi snapped a little too quickly.

Devil-Shinichi let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like "_LIAR!"_

In answer, Angel-Shinichi flew over to his evil counterpart—and proceeded to bash the devil over the head with a harp that seemed to materialize from nowhere. "Shut up and let me handle this! Or I'll get the holy water again!"

The now-incapacitated devil floated down into Shinichi's hands; the mortal boy looked up at his alleged good side. "You're sure you're the good influence in this outfit?"

"You've never seen him drunk and swinging a pitchfork," Angel-Shinichi replied delicately.

"Ah."

"So if I were to set you and Ran up, would you kill me?" the angel went on.

"…_can_ I kill you?" Shinichi asked after a moment's thought. "I thought you guys were immortal."

"…point."

"Yay for me."

"But can I? CanIcanIcaaaaaaaanI?"

Shinichi grimaced. "I know you guys a little better than you think. You're going to go off and do what you want, whether I give you my permission or not. Because you're my subconscious, and you therefore have decided that it's your inalienable right to screw with me. I dare you to tell me I'm wrong."

Angel-Shinichi was quiet for a long moment. Then… "So can I?"

"I don't care!" Shinichi huffed. "Why are you so interested in my love life, anyway?"

"Because I'm a part of you, and you're unhappy," Angel-Shinichi said simply. "You're in love, but with everything that happened and everything going completely nuts at the end, you're not sure if she still loves you or if you screwed that up sideways. And you've been over-thinking this for so long that you've managed to work yourself up into a state where you _can't_ just go up and ask her about it."

Shinichi was silent.

"So let us help!" the shoulder-angel chirped merrily. "I'll set it up, just leave it to me!"

The teenaged detective gave his conscience a Look. "You're going to go talk to Ran?"

"Why not?"

"…if she freaks out, I'm knocking you into a wall."

"Fair enough," the angel nodded. "Now, one more thing I think I should tell you…"

Meanwhile, still cupped in Shinichi's hands, Devil-Shinichi was only beginning to rouse from his semi-comatose state, and had started mumbling. "I know…put my earmuffs on the cookie…"

_-o-_

"Psst!"

Ran looked up from her textbook and glanced around at the sound of someone hissing at her.

Finally, her eyes came to rest on something small, standing on the corner of her desk. But it took her a moment to full comprehend what exactly she was looking at: it seemed to be a miniature version of Shinichi, merely several inches tall.

The first thing that popped into her head was that Shinichi had _really_ become a shrunken detective, and she nearly had a heart attack. But then she realized that he was wearing a white suit, and had…wings? And a shiny gold halo?

Ran blinked once, twice, three times a lady. Nope, he was still there.

"Hello!" the small Shinichi was waving at her now, flashing her Shinichi's best smile.

"Hi," she said, startled into response.

The Shinichi angel (though that little thought made her have to bite back a chuckle) fluttered his wings and darted up to sit on her shoulder. "I'm here on behalf of my client."

"Your…client?" Ran repeated incredulously. "Does Shinichi know you're here?"

"Not exactly," the little angel looked sheepish.

"Why are you here, anyway?" she asked.

"We're trying to be helpful," Angel-Shinichi said sincerely. "My…ah, counterpart is currently chewing on your boyfriend's ear about things of no great consequence." The glare that was fired his way made him stop short, and then he realized, "I said the B-word, didn't I?

_Boyfriend._

Ran stared.

He inched a little further from her head, more towards her arm. "Please don't hurt me?"

She shook her head in disbelief. "God, now even Shinichi's _subconscious_ is making fun of me?"

"I meant no harm."

"Maybe you should just tell me what you're doing here," Ran leaned one elbow on the desk and put her chin in her hand. "Since Shinichi obviously doesn't know you're here. Must be important."

"I'm delivering a message," he told her proudly. "I'm supposed to tell you to go up to the school roof after classes. Shinichi will meet you there—he's got something very important to tell you."

"Does he know he's meeting me there?"

"Yes. We told him so."

She regarded him for a moment before smiling with the air of one long such accustomed to things being handled in such a fashion. "Tell you what," she said, turning her attention back to her reading. "You worry about Shinichi, and I'll worry about Shinichi. Does that sound fair?"

He pondered for a long minute before he finally understood what she meant. "I'll keep an eye on his mental health, and you'll make sure he doesn't get himself killed?"

"Exactly."

"Fair enough," the shoulder-angel nodded, lifting off from his perch and executing a courtly bow while hovering in mid-air. "Well, thank you for your time. May our paths cross again." And he was gone, evaporating into a small flurry of miniature white feathers.

It never occurred to Angel-Shinichi to wonder why she seemed so surprisingly at-ease with the fact that she was talking with half of Shinichi's subconscious. And what was even more amazing, Ran reflected in hindsight, was that nobody else seemed to notice the conversation she was having with a real miniature detective sitting on her shoulder.

_-o-_

"Why am I here again?" Shinichi asked, leaning against the chain-link fence that ran around the entire perimeter of the school roof. No one else was up there, making it the perfect meeting place.

"Because we're helping you!" Devil-Shinichi crowed.

"If I recall, my other side is the one who set this up," the teenaged tantei pointed out. "You just kept chewing at me until I finally agreed to go through with this. So get off my back."

"…no one respects my genius," the little devil replied sadly.

"Oh, shut up," Angel-Shinichi deadpanned. "No one _cares_."

"You know, for a shoulder angel, you're…well, not as angelic as one would think," Shinichi said.

"I get it from you. Don't you ever forget that."

"Okay, okay—" his response was cut off by the sound of the roof's door opening and closing, followed by soft, tentative footsteps padding across the stone rooftop.

There was a tug on Shinichi's ear, and he turned to see both his angelic and devilish selves standing on his shoulder, grinning at him. "We're outta here," the shoulder-devil said with a grin. "Gonna leave you to do your thing."

"Remember what we talked about," Angel-Shinichi added, "and you'll be fine."

There was a flurry of tiny white feathers and a poof of black smoke as they disappeared.

"Shinichi?"

He straightened up and whirled around at the sound of his name. "Oh—hey, Ran."

_Oh—hey Ran. Brilliant, genius… _he mentally gave himself a kick in the ass.

"I got your—um, message," Ran said. It didn't escape him that she paused before saying _message_, and he inwardly groaned at his inadvertent choice of delivery boy. "He said you had something you wanted to talk to me about. What's up?"

Were Shinichi a little less nervous, he probably would have paused to wonder why she was so calm. But his brain was going a mile a minute, his insides were twisting into knots that would have made a sailor proud, and his tongue had gone into a full rebellion against him.

Those three things all worked together to culminate in what probably ranked as one of the most horrifying moments of Shinichi's life. Well, right up there with the whole apotoxin-Black Organization-nearly dying thing, of course.

"I love you."

The words just flew from his lips before he could even think enough to realize what they were or what they entailed. And then he saw Ran's jaw drop, and his brain finally reunited with his voice in their normal alliance, leaving him to realize that he had just made a huge blunder.

_Huuuuuuuuuuge._

Ran's eyes were approximately eight times their normal size now.

He took a step back, and his voice once again broke off its connection from his brain and just started running wild. "Oh _shit_ I'm such a moron I can't _believe_ I just did that that was _not_ how that was supposed to come out it was supposed to be a lot better than that and now you probably think I'm a total _freak_ and you're probably mad and…crap…"

Shinichi's forehead dropped down into his hand as he tried to figure out a way to salvage the situation, considering he had probably just destroyed _everything_. Dammit, this was supposed to be romantic or special or…anything but what he had just done.

…and it was strange, but he could have sworn that he heard a vaguely familiar voice nearby, barely above a whisper, hissing something that sounded like "_Kiss him!"_

With his head down, he didn't see Ran move or even hear her footsteps this time—he just felt hands on the sides of his face, pulling his head away from his hand and down and holding it there, and then the press of lips crashing against his in an intensely possessive manner.

After about two seconds, Shinichi realized that he had just gotten a wordless answer.

He also decided—very quickly—that participation was _definitely_ a good idea…

_-o-_

A short distance away, two very small Shinichis were laughing and high-fiving each other. "Oh man…" Angel-Shinichi giggled, a noise that would have never been heard coming from his human charge's lips. "Did you see the look on his face?"

"I know!" Devil-Shinichi brushed away evil tears of laughter before his expression shifted to something less amused and more thoughtful. "Although…I thought it was going to be the other way around. Ya know, him kissing her."

_THWACK!_

Devil-Shinichi was propelled forward by the force of something smacking against the top of his head. Grappling at the injured spot with both hands, he whirled with every intention of exacting immediate vengeance upon his assailant.

Instead, he froze, numerous interesting phrases dying on his tongue.

Both Angel-Shinichi and Devil-Shinichi stared up at the figures looming over them. The weapon that had been wielded against his skull was obviously displayed; its owner was smiling. Evilly.

"What?" Devil-Ran smirked, turning her pitchfork over in her hands. "You think you're the only ones who've been trying to hook those two up? Puh-lease." Her male counterpart simply gaped—after all, who wouldn't stare at an evil knockout in black leather?

She suddenly leaned forward and put the handle end of her weapon beneath Devil-Shinichi's chin, tilting it upwards so he had to look at her face. She smirked in a most evil manner. "Hello, handsome..."

Behind her, a white-clad, white-winged, halo-ed Angel-Ran giggled, and a slack-jawed Angel-Shinichi stared at her, little pink hearts floating up from his head and popping in the air around him.

Devil-Shinichi gulped. _Rar…_

_-o-_

A while later, when both our lovesick protagonists finally realized that, although it would have been an enormously pleasant way to go, death by suffocation was not on either of their lists, they finally pulled apart and just sort of stared at each other, gasping and gulping for air. Neither of them dared to move from the warm circle of the other's arms.

"Ran?"

"Hmm?" she leaned back to look up at him.

"…what brought that on?"

Ran gave him a wicked smile. "The devil made me do it."

* * *

**PS.** _I knew from the beginning I would give Shinichi a shoulder-angel. I love the idea. And just for you, **sapphirestars**, behold the hair-treatment for Ran :) Ended up a little strange, but it made me laugh. Can anyone spot the Avenue Q reference?_

_Also, at no extra charge to all of you lovely people, I give you an omake based on the previous Kiss. A few people thought this was a funny idea, so I figured why not elaborate…hopefully, I'm not encroaching on **fireblazie's** territory here…

* * *

_

"Uh-huh…" Kazuha murmured thoughtfully into the receiver. She listened for a few seconds, then tilted her head to the side. "That actually worked? Okay…" She listened again. "Hmmm…well, okay. Thanks for letting me know. Okay. Yes. Yup! Sounds good. Thanks—bye!"

She hung up and stared at the phone for a minute before turning away from it and heading back over towards the couch, where Heiji was sprawled haphazardly on his back. "Who was that?" he asked.

"Telemarketer," she replied casually, leaning on the edge of the couch, arms folded across her chest. She seemed to be thinking something over. Finally, she took a deep breath. "Heiji…"

"Hmm?"

Thinking back to the slightly-odd tip that Kudo Shinichi had just given her over the phone, Kazuha smiled. "You know what? I really don't get the whole kissing thing…"

* * *

_The rest, I leave to your imaginations. **Thank you all for fifteen thousand views.** Ciao!_


	24. Toe the Line

**Title:** Toe the Line  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#7—superstar  
**Rating: **PG-13 (for some suggestive dialogue, but not much else)  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.  
**Summary: **Shinichi, you need to prove that I mean more to you than a murder case…

* * *

"When you get home, we need to talk."

_CLICK._

Shinichi winced at the sound of the line going dead. With a sigh, he closed and pocketed his cell phone. _We need to talk._ Never a good thing to hear, especially from your wife, and _especially_ when it's in that one tone of voice that only she can do. The voice that strikes the fear of God into your heart.

That voice that is as warm and friendly as a glacier.

That voice that promises no end to the hurting if you don't have exactly the right answers.

That voice that ensures that you have an overnight appointment on the couch.

Needless to say, Shinichi was _not_ looking forward to the prescribed talk.

Megure-keibu was waiting for him when he got back to the scene of the murder. The portly Inspector might not have been at the same deductive level as his young partner, but the forlorn expression on the younger man's was impossible to miss. "Problem?" he asked.

Shinichi's response was a barely-intelligible mutter of, "Ran said we need to talk."

Megure winced sympathetically. "Well, let's get this done so you can get home to your wife."

"And grovel…" Shinichi sighed.

_-o-_

Ran glared angrily at the phone, as if it was the thing that had wronged her. She momentarily considered pretending it was her husband and yanking it out of the wall and destroying it. But no, it wouldn't do to kill the messenger, as it were. Besides, then she would have to go buy a new phone.

So she opted instead to storm around the kitchen and start wiping down any and all available surfaces with far more force than was probably needed. The poor ceramic countertop was spot-free, and the stove-top was shiny enough that she could have used her reflection in it to apply make-up. But at least her frustration had a suitable outlet, one that gained positive results…and one that wouldn't require calling a repairman to the house at this hour of the evening.

He had promised—promised! They had nice plans for the evening. And what had he done? Gone running off to solve a case, Mr. Superstar Detective, all hail, all worship. She understood that it was his job, and if he didn't do what he did, a lot of criminals might have gotten away with their crimes. And she realized that being married to said superstar meant that once in a while, yes, she would have to play second fiddle to a dead body.

Still, she was his _wife, _dammit. And she really thought that they'd gotten past that and broken his nasty little habit of ditching her the instant a case reared its head—every single time. But as the saying goes, old habits die hard, and Shinichi was no exception. Things had been getting worse and worse lately.

At least she'd trained him to call…but that didn't change the fact.

He. Had. _Promised_.

And she was getting tired of it.

When she finally ran out of surfaces to scrub, and he still hadn't put in his appearance, she gave up and headed upstairs towards the bedroom. She did, however, leave the front light on for him—cursing herself and that perpetual weak spot she had for her errant husband.

Must have been a trickier case than usual, she reflected as slipped under the blankets. He'd called an hour ago, and there was still no sign of him—must have been a good one. Either that, or he was merely prolonging the inevitable. Either away, he'd come home eventually.

And she was pretty sure that she knew what she was going to say to him. He was going to learn…

_-o-_

The light was on.

Good sign.

Ran wasn't anywhere in sight.

Bad sign.

Shinichi locked the front door and waited for her to appear, but she didn't show. Given the hour, though, he figured she was probably in bed. Whether or not she was awake was another matter entirely. He almost hoped she was asleep—then The Talk could be put off until tomorrow morning, and maybe she wouldn't be _quite_ so angry…

He passed the kitchen, and paused by the door. The room was spotlessly clean, from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. Even the cabinets and garbage can were sparkling and lemony fresh.

Shinichi winced. _Very_ bad sign.

Gathering his nerve, he headed up the stairs. It was so ironic, really—he could face down thugs, murderers, and every kind of lowlife without flinching. He regularly dealt with dead bodies in varying stages of messiness. He'd tackled an army of killers with precious few allies—and won. Yet one Word from his wife had him shaking in his shoes. One of her Looks was enough to freeze him where he stood.

How the hell did she do that, anyway?

As he approached the door, he shook his head at his own musings. He loved her, and he hated to see her unhappy, that was why. He also hated to see her unhappy with _him_ because that could potentially mean threats of bodily damage…or she would force him to eat his own cooking.

The light in the bedroom was off, but through the darkness he could see her outline, sitting up in bed, back against the headboard…arms folded. That was definitely an uh-oh…

"Nice to see you," she said in a clipped voice.

"Sorry, I didn't think it would take that long," he apologized, setting about getting himself ready for bed as well. In relatively short order, he slid under the blankets next to her.

Ran didn't even turn her head to look at him. "Tough case?" she asked shortly.

"Sort of," Shinichi replied, growing increasingly nervous. She was acting very strangely…

"You solved it?"

"Yes…"

"Good. I'm sure the victim is thrilled."

"Ran, I'm doing my job. Why does that bother you so much?" he finally broke down and asked, already knowing full well that he was not going to like the answer.

"Why does that…?" she sat up and looked at him through the darkness; he could see her eyes blazing with anger. "I can't believe you're actually asking—_why does that bother me so much?_ Aren't you supposed to be some sort of detective? You honestly don't understand why I'm so angry?" She shook her head and looked down. "You really don't get it…" Now she sounded more sad and tired than angry.

"Ran…" he said, reaching to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me," Ran's hand flew as though to block him, making him stop in mid-motion. She rolled over in bed to lay on her side and look at the wall, giving him an excellent view of her back; it also allowed her to hide the fact that she was clutching at the sheets with white-knuckled fists, as though they could actually offer her some sort of reassurance.

The hand he had reached towards never actually touched her. She could sense that his fingers were hovering just above her skin, but the fact that she had just turned away from him like that had stopped him cold. She had never done that before. "Ran…" he said, confusion coloring his tone.

"Consider this an ultimatum, Shinichi" she said firmly, pulling the blanket up to her chin, nice and tight. "My body is a temple, and you're going to have to prove yourself worthy. So until you show me that I mean more to you than those cases, you're on your own, meitantei."

She felt Shinichi's eyes boring into her back, and vowed not to give in. She had said her part, told him the problem, and given him the task of making things right. And really, if he thought about it, he'd realize that it wasn't anything difficult. The ball was in his court now. All she had to do was resist him.

Unfortunately, resisting Shinichi was something she had never been very good at doing. But she swore up and down that she would hold her ground and not give in. But she could still feel his wide-eyed stare as she drifted off to sleep.

_-o-_

The following days were _extremely_ tense, to say the least.

Shinichi generally skitted around his wife like a nervous rabbit, and everything Ran put her hand to doing involved excessive amounts of force—those vegetables were chopped finely enough to make a food processor jealous. In short, their relationship hadn't been this strained since the days of the Black Organization's bust and Conan's truth.

Ran was sticking to her guns, however, and she was proud of herself for it. She wasn't afraid of repercussions from her husband. For all his (many) faults, Shinichi was a gentleman, and for all his (utter) cluelessness, she knew he loved her. He wasn't going to do anything to actually _hurt_ her, of that there was never a single doubt. So she stood her ground without fear.

She had support, too; a phone call to Kazuha had given her a bit more confidence in her actions and reassurance that she was not out of line. Shinichi was being a moron, Kazuha agreed. He needed to figure things out for himself—until then, no kisses and no cuddles.

After that phone call, though, Ran had the distinct impression that Kazuha was not entirely happy with her own hubby at the moment, and wondered briefly if perhaps the same fate was awaiting Heiji the next time he blew her off to go solve a mystery.

She had to admit that it made her chuckle to try and imagine the conversations that might take place between the two deprived detectives should this come to pass. Which one would clue in first, and regain their touching privileges? It was anyone's game, as they were both notoriously dense. Hell, Shinichi still hadn't gotten it—he'd done the exact same thing twice in the week since her ultimatum.

Ran had simply sighed and gone about her business as usual. She knew he was getting antsy. But how could such a superstar detective be so blind? Especially when the answer was so very simple…

_-o-_

"_KUDO!"_

Shinichi held the phone away from his ear and winced, waiting until the yelling had stopped before he moved it closer. "Hello, Hattori. I take it you're having a problem too?"

There was a moment of silence before Heiji repeated, "…too?"

"Knowing our wives, they've been talking," Shinichi sighed, leaning his head against the wall. Ran was out running errands, so for the moment he could speak freely. "And if Ran hasn't told Kazuha about what's going on here, I'll eat my copy of _The Sign of Four_."

Heiji chuckled dryly. "So that's where she got the idea. Never knew Ran had it in her…"

"I think that's the problem here!" Shinichi said before thinking. There was an awkward moment of silence before Shinichi cleared his throat. "So…what did Kazuha tell you? And stop laughing at me."

"Of course. I'll just remind you of this the next time you need to be knocked down a few pegs. Preferably, in front of your wife," Heiji replied airily, his smirk audible. "But anyway, Kazuha went on a rampage about how I don't appreciate her and dead bodies are more important to me than she is and I'm an ahou and on and on and on…and then she said that if I touched her before she said it was okay, I was going to be sleeping on the couch for the rest of my life."

Shinichi nodded grimly—it somehow made him feel better to know that someone felt his pain. "Sounds more or less right. I haven't actually been evicted from my bed yet, though. I've just been denied those particular _privileges_. It's been a week, and she's not letting up."

"Or giving up," Heiji added.

Had they been in the same room, Heiji would have gotten punched in the face without another word spoken. As the dark-skinned detective was in Osaka, this was not possible, so Shinichi opted instead for growling, "If you _ever_ say that about Ran again…"

"I was just kidding," Heiji placated immediately, realizing that he had crossed the line.

Shinichi sighed. "Hattori, I'm going nuts."

"They're torturing us, that's what they're doing," Heiji whined. "That's why we haven't actually been reassigned to the couch! That way, they can say goodnight, roll over, and go to sleep and let us just look at them, knowing that there's no way in hell we're going to do anything, no matter how much we might want to…it's torture…and our hands are tied."

Neither dared to make the obvious joke about that.

"…how whipped are we, anyway?"

"Extremely."

Nope, didn't make that crack either.

"How long do you think this is going to go on?" Shinichi asked.

"Knowing Kazuha?" Heiji thought for a minute. "Either five minutes or forever."

"Five minutes? Why only five minutes?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"…no. No, I don't."

"Good. Because I don't kiss and tell."

"Hattori, shut up." Scratch that about feeling better. Now he was more miserable than ever.

_-o-_

Two weeks into the ultimatum, both husband and wife were about ready to lose their minds. The strain was killing them both, but Ran clung to her resolve, no matter how much she wanted to throw it all to the four winds. He had to be the one to end this, even if it seemed kind of hopeless thus far.

Still, she saw it as a positive sign when he nervously suggested that they go out for dinner that evening, and perhaps catch a movie or something? He looked like he thought she was going to attack him, probably given the ever-mounting tension between them.

Needless to say, he looked startled when she enthusiastically agreed.

Being out of the house, with pleasant surroundings and good food in front of them, seemed to relax them both. The conversation was light and cheery, steering far away from topics like mysteries and the like. For the first time in two weeks, they were both completely at ease, having almost forgotten the quarrel that plagued their home-life. Ran found herself wondering if perhaps there had finally, blessedly, been a break-through…

A cell phone rang, its high-pitched, digital-midi song like a harbinger of doom.

Shinichi winced at the sound, and gave her an apologetic look as he reached for the offending item in his jacket pocket, putting it to his ear. He suddenly looked a bit nervous. "Hello?"

"It's me."

"Megure-keibu?"

"Shinichi-kun," Megure's voice rumbled over the phone—he had finally taken to calling his young friend by his first name shortly after Shinichi and Ran's wedding, "we need you on the case."

"Where is—" Shinichi demanded as he started to stand up, phone pressed to his ear, one hand automatically reaching for the coat hanging on the back of his chair, his mind already racing at the prospect of a new case and a new challenge—

—and stopped when his eyes landed on his wife.

Before the phone jangle had interrupted them, he and Ran had been happily engaged in lively conversation, the joking and teasing that had always been so commonplace to their decidedly-unique relationship, and he had been able to forget the tension between them. She had been smiling, the happiest he had seen her in quite a while. But now…

Ran's smile had frozen at the sound of the cell phone. When she heard Megure's name, that smile dropped off her face entirely; she had put one elbow on the table, letting her chin rest in her hand, and was gazing out the window at the night sky that lay beyond. Her expression was vacant and mask-like, but her eyes were shimmering…

Shinichi nearly dropped the phone.

She turned her head enough to look up at him. "Shouldn't you be going?" she asked; he was amazed that it physically hurt him when her voice cracked. "It's Megure—a case, right? You'd better hurry…" Her eyes drifted back out the window; the shine there was becoming far more pronounced.

For what felt like an eternity, neither of them moved.

And finally, all the pieces fell into place— hadn't he had this whole thing hammered through his thick skull once before? He'd had a heck of a time figuring out exactly what his priorities were back then, really, until it had decided to hit him over the head in the form of Gin with a lead pipe. He'd been good for a while…and then he had just started falling back into old habits. Bad habits.

And Ran had been the one to suffer as a result, every single time.

Slowly, Shinichi returned the phone to his ear, just now becoming aware that Megure was calling his name repeatedly to try and get his attention. "Keibu," he said slowly, "I'm afraid you'll have to do this one without me." And he sat back down with a thump.

Ran's head snapped straight forward to stare at him. He chuckled at how wide her eyes had grown.

On the other end of the line, Megure was actually sputtering.

Shinichi smiled. "I have a previous engagement this evening with someone who's already put up with far more than she should have _ever_ had to," he winked at Ran, who still looked absolutely stunned, "so I'm sorry, but you're on your own. I wish you luck. Or call Hattori, if you need help."

Without waiting for a response, he not only ended the call, but he shut the phone off entirely and returned it to his pocket. "I'm sorry," he said apologetically, "but I really thought I'd turned that off."

Ran's eyes took up at least half her face. "You…you're not…?"

He shook his head.

"Why not?"

He shrugged. "Simple—priorities."

She looked like she still didn't believe what was happening in front of her. "You…"

Shinichi actually snorted. "Come on, Ran! What moron would walk out and leave you sitting here all alone?" he asked, then frowned. "Don't answer that." There was a pause before he grinned, ever the charmer. "Besides, if I'm not here to protect you, then some other guy might come by and steal you away. And then where would we be?"

It took her a moment to realize that now, _finally_, he understood, even if he didn't come right and say as much. The resulting smile that broke on Ran's face was bright enough to illuminate the sky outside. She then raised an eyebrow. "You realize that if you start being stupid again, I'll beat you and _then_ make you suffer," she said, the faintest hint of a threat in her tone. But she was still smiling, sliding her fingers across the cloth-covered tabletop in search of his.

His hand met hers halfway, linking slender fingers together. "And then you'll nurse me back to health, right?" he said smugly, as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.

She gave him a Look that said she really wasn't irritated. "You think you're so cute, don't you?"

"I know," he nodded. "But that's why you love me!"

Ran shook her head wryly, though she was smiling. _You know I do…_

_-o-_

He was asleep.

Ran honestly couldn't believe it.

They'd come home after a fabulous evening out together, but by the time she had taken a shower and gotten to bed, Shinichi was already out cold, stretched out on his side on top of the blankets. He'd shed his jacket, shoes, and tie, but forgone the pajamas in favor of just crashing.

She stood at the foot of the bed for a moment, arms folded, watching the steady rising and falling of his chest. For as big of an idiot as he could be sometimes, she really had been lucky. So had he, actually, but every once in a while he just needed a reminder.

Ran chuckled to herself and moved forward, putting her knees on the edge of the bed and crawling up towards the pillows. She sat up for a minute before she leaned over and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Shinichi? Are you awake?"

He made a little noise that basically said _Well, I am now._

One of her hands slid to his cheek and turned his head. His eyes were half-open now, staring at her without real focus. Thus positioned, with his face towards her and her hand on his cheek, she had clear access to dip her head and kiss him, as expertly as she knew how.

Well, _that_ woke him up in a hurry…

"So, have we learned our lesson, smart guy?" she asked after she had pulled away, smiling sweetly and laughing inwardly at how wide his eyes had gotten. "Are we going to break plans with the wife and go running off every single time a body hits the floor?"

He shook his head.

"If we do, do we know what will happen to certain superstar detectives?" she asked.

"…death?" he guessed. "Of the painful variety?"

"Goooooooood boy," she nodded approvingly, her smile becoming a bit more frustrated. "Because I'm about ready to go crazy, so I hope you're not planning on sleeping for a while."

* * *

**PS.** _Inspired by the story of **Lysistrata**, where a group of Greek women get sick of their husbands running off to war, so they band together and barricade themselves in a temple to deny their hubbies any and all "favors" until the men agree to form a peace agreement and end the war. It works :) **And for the record, I have NO IDEA how long it'll take Heiji to get the hint (smiles sweetly) Kazuha might be waiting years…**_

_Tribute time: the "I know, but that's why you love me!" is a homage to **sapphirestar's "Walking in the Rain,"** an AWESOME Shinichi/Ran story. Hope you enjoyed this odd little story. Much love, all!_


	25. Angel Eyes

**Title:** Angel Eyes  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#15—perfect blue  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.  
**Summary: **Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven?

* * *

The first thing Kudo Shinichi noticed upon waking up was that his arms were far longer than he was accustomed to. He noticed this, in fact, when he moved to put one hand to his forehead, and managed to smack himself in the nose in a complete misjudgment of distance.

He then realized that the hand currently checking his nose for breakage was…larger.

Adult-sized.

Shinichi's eyes flew open and dropped to scan over himself.

His seventeen-year-old self.

Now completely awake, he sat up and looked at his hands, down his torso and long legs.

He was back to normal.

Shinichi reeled, trying to think back. He'd been Conan, and then something had happened, he'd felt pain, he'd fallen over, and then…and then…he didn't know. He was waking up, himself. How had this happened? Did the drug wear off? And the clothes he was wearing—regardless of how he'd gotten back to himself, how had he ended up clad in his high school uniform?

But that wasn't the real question he had at the moment, he realized as everything started to sink in. And it was a question that didn't seem horribly eager to be answered right up front. Momentarily forgetting his elation at being himself again, Shinichi tentatively looked around.

Where was he?

He noticed a line of people standing nearby; they just seemed to be milling around. Perhaps someone there could tell him where he was? Climbing slowly to his feet, he wandered towards the restless gathering over there—

—only to find himself swept up into the line by a rather large…being. Being, because he wasn't quite sure that it was human. Humans did not have skin that color: red-orange. And humans definitely didn't have horns. The being shuffling him along towards the queue possessed both of these.

Unsure of what else to do, he waited. No one seemed to even notice he was there; he cleared his throat, and received no glances. So he stood in line and waited uncertainly to find out what exactly he was waiting in line for.

_-o-_

"Ran-chan, what's the matter?"

Giving herself a quick mental shake, Ran sought the source of the voice. "Huh?"

One of her teammates was standing beside her, arms folded across her gi-clad chest. "Ran-chan, you're not paying attention at all. It's like you're a million miles away. Come on, focus! The tournament's coming up, and we need you at your best!"

Ran nodded quickly. "Sorry, I'll try to focus in."

In truth, Ran's thoughts were anything but focused.

She had started feeling uneasy several days before, when Conan had left them to go to see his parents for a week. He'd seemed so happy to be going, but he was young and he probably missed his mother and father dearly; it wasn't easy being away from them for so long at such a young age.

Still, her heart clenched every time she thought of him walking away, smiling and laughing and waving cheerily at her. She smiled and waved back, seeing him off. And yet she had that strange feeling, the same premonition she'd had so long ago…

It was like watching Shinichi walk away all over again. But he wasn't Shinichi, he was Conan.

Either way, he was leaving, and she had a horrible feeling.

Someone was tugging on her arm now—one of her teammates, demanding a spar. Managing a weak smile, she let herself be dragged along to the mats and the mock-fight began, though Ran's heart wasn't really in practice today.

She was thinking about Shinichi again. She hadn't heard from him in a while. In fact, his rare, precious phone calls had stopped after Conan had left. But as always, she pressed on and tried her best to keep smiling and ignore the worry and pain that kept clawing her into pieces.

And then two days ago, she'd been going about her business when something had just hit her, like a bullet between the eyes. She couldn't talk, think, breathe, save for one precious thing…

_Shinichi…_

"Ran-chan!"

"Mouri!"

"Ran!"

She heard numerous voices calling out her name—she swore she had only slipped away from herself for a moment, why were they all yelling at her like that—and her eyes suddenly narrowed in on her sparring partner.

Who was swinging a perfect roundhouse kick right at Ran's head—the foot was right there…her teammate's kick crashed into the side of her head. She saw her opponent's eyes widen in horror just before her head was turned by the force of the blow. She heard something crack, a very loud cracking noise, and she heard someone scream…

Then the world went very numb and swimmy and her head felt like it was full of sand and wow that was one amazing kick and why couldn't she stay standing everyone was calling her name it sounded like it was coming through water and the ground was coming up to meet her there it was…

_THUD._

Mouri Ran hit the mats, her head splayed at a very unnatural angle.

She did not move.

She did not hear her teammates scream.

She did not hear anything, really…

_-o-_

"_Yes, you heard correctly," the enormous being intoned._

_Were he not in shock, Shinichi might have been a bit intimidated by the large form looming over him. But all he could manage at the moment were strangled, choking noises and wide eyes. The deep, booming voice of the inhuman being above him kept echoing in his head, over and over again, repeating the same horrible proclamation._

"You're here because you've passed on."

_Dead._

_He was…dead._

_Shinichi slowly slid down to his knees, slumping forward to rest his weight on his hands. A soft groan slipped away from him, carrying with it a single word. His thoughts at that moment were not for himself and his as-yet-unknown fate, but for the one who continued to suffer because of him. The one he had failed yet again, this time forever._

"_Ran…"_

_-o-_

Ran was terrified, to say the least. Where in the world was she?

She had opened her eyes and found herself in a place she did not recognize. There seemed to be a line of people, though, with some interesting-looking beings herding people here and there, and in short order she was ushered into the queue.

The line inched forward, and finally, Ran was at the front, looking up at an enormous desk. Behind the desk sat what looked like a monster, a giant blue creature with large horns protruding from either side of his head. "Name?" he boomed; it was amazing how such a deep, thunderous voice could actually sound so…_bored_.

Swallowing hard, she squeaked out, "Ran. Mouri Ran."

"Mouri—Mouri Ran?" the large horned being came halfway out of his chair.

She instinctively stepped back at the outburst, but steadied herself and nodded. "That's my name."

"You're the girl that one guy mentioned!" the demon cheered; the finger he pointed at her was the size of a large tree trunk. "Oh, what was his name? He was a young guy, 'bout your age—new arrival, too. He got here a couple days ago. It's on the tip of my tongue…" As if to accent his point, the aforementioned forked tongue flicked out between his purplish lips while his face scrunched in thought.

The name dropped from Ran's hopeful lips before she could even think to be alarmed. "Shinichi?"

"That's it!" the demon snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "The Kudo kid! Man, poor guy was really broken up when he realized where he was…" The blue face softened in pity. "Didn't even know he was dead until we told him. He just kinda slumped over…and I swear he said your name."

"Wait," Ran cut him off. "Dead? What do you mean, dead?"

The demon looked at her for a moment before glancing down at the book in his hands; he nodded, as if what he saw there that seemed to explain something to him. "Yours was a sudden one, too. In that case, it's not surprising that you don't know."

"Know what?" she asked nervously.

"Those who come through here are those that have passed on," he explained.

Ran stared at him before chuckling. "What—what do you mean? What are you talking about?"

"You're standing in the gateway to the Afterlife," the large being said matter-of-factly. "Both you and your pal Kudo shuffled off the mortal coil and wound up here. Now we're going to see what spot you've earned here and send you on your way."

She shook her head. No, this wasn't possible! Then she remembered a sparring match gone awry and a foot swinging at her head at top speed and the strange numbness that had caught her then…it was crazy, but somehow, sickeningly, she knew that he wasn't lying. But another thought hit her then—if she was here because of that, then… "Shinichi—how did he die?" Ran demanded breathlessly.

"…let me look," the demon picked up a book and began paging through it, muttering to himself. After several pages and indeterminate moments, his expression brightened. "Here he is! Let's see, Kudo…" He leaned back in his chair. "Shot. Back of the head. From the looks of it, though, he'd been hiding out from that killer for a while now—that guy really screwed up the poor kid's life, what with that poison and all that rot." He closed the book and sat back, still muttering uncomplimentary things about murderers and their assured destinations after death.

Meanwhile, Ran's underworld had just dropped out from under her.

Shinichi had been…shot? Poison? Hiding?

Suddenly, she needed to sit down. So she did, right in the middle of the floor.

"Are you gonna be all right?" the large blue being asked.

"Where can I find him?" she asked after a moment of silence. "He's here—where is he? Do you know?" She surged back to her feet, hands clenching into white-knuckled fists at her sides. "If you know where he is, then please tell me!"

"I can't give you any specifics," the demon boomed. "This place is huge. But I can tell you this—you're both in the same area. Through that side door over there," he pointed at one of the large doors. "He's in there somewhere. You'd be better off asking the locals if anyone's seen him."

"Thank you!" Ran nodded, ever the polite one, before turning and sprinting towards the door. Somewhere beyond that door was Shinichi. She just had to sift through a part of the Afterlife to find him.

Still sitting at the desk, Enma smiled and shook his head. Every once in a while, something like this came along. Poor kids, to go so young—his a senseless murder, hers a tragic accident. "Hope you find him," he said quietly after her before turning back to the next incoming soul.

_-o-_

A butterfly landed on Shinichi's cheek; without thinking about it or really meaning to, he flicked one hand up to brush it away. Immediately, he regretted it, and sat up to watch the colorful insect flutter away, up into a sky that was painted in oranges and reds, like a sunset.

He'd dozed off—yes, surprising as it was, apparently souls could take naps, though it wasn't so much a necessity as a method of relaxation. And now it seemed that a fair amount of time had passed. How long had he been out of it, anyway?

Still, he didn't quite feel like getting up. It was awfully nice, sprawled out in the grass by the tree. Pity he was all alone here…no, no, he wouldn't think like that. If none of the others were here, that meant they were still alive, and that was wonderful.

But it didn't change the fact that he was lonely, even in this place that was supposed to be Heaven.

He missed the kids, the Shounen Tantei—a lot more than he thought he would, honestly. They'd grown on him, from the moment they'd followed him home from school and demanded he be their friend. He missed his parents—he would have _gladly_ let his mother hug him and call him Shin-chan in public if it meant that he could see her! Hell, he even missed Mouri and the whole Metro PD gang.

But most of all, he missed Ran. Even if he was stuck as Conan, he'd never _really_ been apart from her before. Not like this. And it hurt. It was her absence that struck the most painful chord to make the loneliness sing deep within him.

She wouldn't know about his fate. Not for a long time, if ever. How would she react?

Sighing, Shinichi mentally ordered himself to stop thinking such thoughts. He stretched out under the tree and told himself to go back to sleep, if only so he didn't have to think anymore. But even as he let himself drift off, back to relaxed slumber, he couldn't help feeling strange.

Like there was someplace he was supposed to be right then.

How odd.

_-o-_

It was hopeless.

Ran sat down on a bench. This place reminded her so much of home—well, her home on Earth, she supposed. It was still so difficult to wrap her mind around the fact that she had died, a freak accident during a karate practice.

She wondered about her family. How would her father take the news? Her mother? Her friends—Sonoko? Conan-kun? They wouldn't know that she was more or less all right, there actually was a better place waiting for those who lived their lives the best way that they could.

They would be fine, even if it didn't happen tomorrow.

But Ran wasn't sure she was completely fine at the moment.

She couldn't find Shinichi. She'd been all over the place, asked person after person. It seemed like a lot of people knew who he was; it had taken her a while to realize that a good number of the people who had been crowing his praises were the victims of the cases he had solved. It made a morbid sort of sense that they would know him. But no one knew where he was now, it seemed.

Tears were superfluous in this place, she knew. This was supposed to be Heaven.

There shouldn't be tears here.

Yet Ran felt them fall, let them fall, and put her face in her hands.

She was scared. She was alone. She wanted Shinichi, and he was so close…

Was she ever going to see him? There was no reason to presume that he would be looking for her, he probably didn't even know she was here now—he'd be horrified to find her in this place. Dead.

But even here, she couldn't see him, no matter how much she wanted to.

Things really weren't so different…

_-o-_

"Kudo-kun?"

Shinichi turned at the sound of his name.

The speaker—an attractive young woman with long, dark hair—stepped from the other side of the tree he'd taken up residency beneath and regarded him with a raised eyebrow. "Still moping?"

"A little," he replied, managing the weakest of smiles.

"Can't say I blame you," she replied, leaning against the tree trunk and folding her arms. "But rejoice, for I bring you good tidings—at least, I hope they're good tidings. I think you're really going to…well, you'll react to this news, at least."

Shinichi frowned. "What?"

"There was a new arrival earlier today—been searching for you since she got here," the woman went on. "I can't believe nobody actually found you and told you that you were being looked for. But anyway, she's been all over the Afterlife, trying to find you."

"She?" Shinichi echoed. Something deep inside him clenched painfully with suspicion.

The woman saw that he already had a guess, and nodded. "Mouri—she's here. Someone told her that you'd check in recently, too, and she's been running all over the place trying to find you."

Shinichi was already on his feet. "Where is she?"

"Last seen over by the Crossroads," she pointed. "That way."

He was already dashing off in the appointed direction. "Thank you!" he called back over his shoulder as he fled, leaving the woman standing alone by the tree.

A smile crossed her face as she watched him sprint away.

After all, Akemi reasoned, he'd protected Shiho, now Ai. He'd kept an eye on her sister.

She did owe him a few.

_-o-_

How long had she been sitting here? Long enough for her tears to run out, she supposed. Her eyes were burning, but there was nothing left to fall from them. So she settled for just sitting there, hunched forward with her folded arms resting on her elbows; her head was hanging forward, letting her hair hang down in front of her face. She couldn't see anyone, and no one could see her face.

God, she just wanted to see him. She wanted to know why he was here, what had happened to him, why he had been gone so long…why he had broken his promise to come back to her, no matter what.

Well, in a morbid sort of way, they were in a position where he could return to her—be it Fate, coincidence, or the imp of the perverse, or what-have-you. To use the old cliché, they were so close, and yet so far away.

And he didn't even know she was here, there was no reason that he would be looking for her.

"Ran?"

She jumped upright at the sound of her name. But that voice…oh God, his voice…Ran rose slowly to her feet, turning to look at the speaker. It had to be…it had to be…

It was.

Shinichi was standing beside the bench, both hands gripping the wooden back of it tightly enough to make his knuckles turn white. And he was just staring at her, jaw slightly dropped and eyes wide. And for some reason, for that second she couldn't see anything other than his eyes. They really were beautiful—they always had been, she'd always thought so. Deep and full, with knowledge and pain and laughter and sorrow and caring and…

…there was something else shining in his cerulean gaze that defied immediate definition. Had that been there before? She tried to remember a life that had slipped away from her like water from a sieve. Yes, yes, she had seen that in his eyes before—that night at the restaurant, when he'd reappeared, only to flee again, leaving her to her tears and Conan's childish comforts…

He had moved—he was directly in front of her; his hands were on the sides of her face, his fingers pressed against the back of her neck, removing any remote chance that she might look away. "Ran, what're you doing here?" he demanded, giving her the tiniest shake, though not enough to hurt her. "You shouldn't be here, Ran, not yet. _Why are you here?"_

Ran didn't answer right away. She just wanted to spend one more moment like that, spellbound by his perfect blue eyes…but he was giving her that same small shake to catch her attention and repeating his question. He seemed so horrified to find her here. "I—I was in karate practice," she said softly. "And I wasn't paying attention. I got kicked in the head—it was an accident, but I heard a crack and then…" It occurred to her then that although she could guess what had happened and probably be accurate, she didn't actually know what had caused her sudden departure.

"…a broken neck," Shinichi sighed, an echo of her own assumptions. "Ran…"

"I didn't feel much," she added. "I mean, it all went dark pretty fast."

He leaned forward then, still holding onto her face, and gently pressed his forehead against hers as he murmured her name. "Ran, Ran, Ran…" She was surprised at the gesture; he wasn't usually one to initiate contact like that, especially something of that nature.

Without even realizing she was moving, her hands moved up to wrap around his wrists. Her voice took on a life of its own and she blurted out, "Do you not want me here?" No, that was a bad question…

He jerked back like he had just been stung. "Do I not want—no, no, Ran, it's not that. But…Ran, this is kind of the Afterlife. If you're here, then you're…you're dead. And…" _And I never wanted to see anything happen to you. I would rather die than see you hurt. I lied to you because I wanted you to live…_

"And so are you," she replied. "Shinichi, what about our families?"

"My parents don't know yet," he said solemnly. "I asked. Your parents probably already know, though, given the circumstances. You can check in on them anytime, if you want."

Ran shook her head. No, she didn't want to see right now, when the news was still so fresh in everyone's minds. She just couldn't handle that right now; it would hurt too much. Coupled with the shock of dying…no, that wasn't something she thought she could take right now.

He was still holding onto her neck, her face; his forehead was still touching hers, letting their noses brush. They had been close before—with as long a friendship as they'd had, they were no strangers to physical contact—but this wasn't the same. She stared at him, taking in every detail, all the things that made him a boy and made him different from her. If he would just open his eyes…

As if her thought had somehow reached him, his perfect blue eyes opened.

If she just moved forward, just inched her head forward…

Again, he seemed to be taking cues directly from her subconscious. Shinichi moved his head forward. Ran's breath hitched…until she realized that he was sliding his head past hers to her shoulder. His hands released their hold on her neck and face; one slid to the back of her head and tangled in her hair, while the other found its way to her lower back.

A hug. He was hugging her, and speaking into her ear. "Ran…I really missed you."

By now, she was already returning the embrace—quite enthusiastically. His declaration surprised her a little, though; he didn't usually admit to such things, and it had to be hard for him to say that out loud for her ears to hear. But she didn't question it, knowing how difficult it was. The words warmed her from head to toe. "I missed you, too, you nerd."

Teasing. Heckling. Just like old times.

They just stayed like that for a long time. Ran reflected that she had been right: his arms felt like…well, just this side of Heaven was the phrase she'd always mentally connected with that state, not that she would have ever admitted it out loud. And together, finally together…

When she felt him shift to move backwards, she reluctantly moved in turn—and once again, they found themselves nose to nose. Both froze. Until—

"Shinichi…"

It probably wasn't the right thing to do—wasn't she supposed to be an angel or something? They were in Heaven, after all. Chances were that angels weren't supposed to do something like that without a by-your-leave or any sign that it was at all acceptable…

But Ran did it anyway, and…well, to hell with the consequences, as it were.

It was a combination of things that led her to just throw caution to the four winds and latch onto him for dear life (again, as it were). First of all, simply the fact that he was here and she was here and they were together and he _wasn't_ disappearing. Secondly, he was so close, and he was reaching for her like she'd always wished he would.

And, she reasoned sadly as she rose up on her tiptoes to catch his lips with her own in a surprise attack, even if he turned and walked away for the rest of the eternity they were to spend here, then at least for this one moment, she could pretend he was hers.

He was still for an instant, one of his hand frozen on her back, the other cradling the back of her head. It was long enough for Ran to think that she had done something horribly wrong and break the kiss by jerking her head back.

Ran had conveniently forgotten, however, that one of Shinichi's hands was resting on the back of her head. And Kudo Shinichi tended to be a man of action when properly motivated. It didn't take much—just a small application of pressure from his hand stopped her head from moving any further back, and a slight motion of his own head told her that she wasn't getting away so easily.

Not after how long it had taken them to actually find each other.

Neither knew how much time passed. But when they finally released their possessive holds on each other, they were both red-faced and gasping heavily for air. And Ran's hair was a bit more on the tangled side than it had been before.

"Ran…" Shinichi breathed, "are you sure you're okay?"

She pretended to think it over carefully. "Well, I just kissed you. You're right—there has to be something wrong with my head."

He had the grace to smile. "That's not what I meant…"

"We're together, right?"

"Yes…"

"Then we'll be okay," Ran nodded firmly. "We can survive death, we can make it through anything!" She glanced around. "Soooo…what is there to do in this place?" she asked conversationally.

"…don't know. Haven't really taken a good look around yet," he replied just as casually, though his fingers tightened slightly around hers. "But it is Heaven, after all."

Hand in hand, the two young spirits began wandering around the Elysian Fields, reunited at long last, even if it was in death. But to the casual observer, all that could be seen were two more stars, shining in the vast expanse of blue-black sky.

* * *

**PS.** _Since my Grand Master Plot of Evil is to take over the world one character death at a time, it had to be done! Plus, it presented a perfect multiple pun for the title, because of A) they both have blue eyes, B) Ran's codename is Angel, and C) now they're both angels. And yes, that was a cameo by Miyano Akemi. Just couldn't resist :)_

_The LJ version has a lyric cut at the end from the song "We're So Far Away," by the group Mae. Little Sister just shoved the CD into my hands one day, and it's really been growing on me. Hope you enjoyed. Five more to go—scary, huh? Much love, all!_


	26. Thinking of You

**Title:** Thinking of You  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#29—the sound of waves  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.  
**Summary:** Sometimes we just need a reminder that we're being thought of.

* * *

Ran was surprised one morning when she stepped out of the agency, and found a package, wrapped in pale blue paper, sitting on the stairs, waiting patiently to be found. She was even more surprised when she looked at the white envelope attached to the top of the box, and saw that it was addressed to her in a handwriting that she knew all too well. 

She glanced around, but saw no one. Trying not to feel disappointed, she shrugged and went back inside, bringing the mysterious box with her. Her father was still sleeping off the remnants of last night's celebration—what exactly he'd been celebrating was still a mystery, but it was bound to result in a hangover and a whole lot of whining. And Conan was nowhere in sight.

The office was empty, so she took a seat on the couch and carefully pulled the envelope from the box, careful not to tear anything. She flipped it open and slipped out a small piece of folded paper; she instantly recognized the neat handwriting across the page as belonging to her long-absent friend…

Setting the box aside for the moment, she read…

_Ran,_

_Sorry I haven't been around as much as we'd both like lately. This case…well, it's frustrating, to say the least. I wish I could just forget about it, but that's really not an option at the moment, so this is the way it has to be for now. I wish it wasn't, but…it can't be helped. I'm sorry._

_I know it's been a while since we've actually seen each other. But I thought you would like this. No, there's no occasion or anything. I was just thinking about you—yes, I do think about you, silly girl, more than you probably realize. And I do miss you, whether you believe it or not. Sometimes when I call, it's because I feel like I'm going to lose my mind…and then I hear your voice and know you're okay, and it helps._

_So keep smiling, okay? And you'd better enjoy your present!_

_Shinichi._

For what felt like infinite moments, Ran forgot how to breathe.

Shinichi was one of those guys who didn't usually come right out and just say how he felt about things—her, in particular. He usually preferred showing to telling. He would tease her mercilessly, until she was angry enough that she couldn't see straight, and then one night he would show her a certain spot in the park where the stars were so clear and so close you could almost reach out and touch them, or show her a rainbow appearing like magic in the spray of a fountain…

Yet he'd admitted—on paper, no less—that he missed her. How bad were things where he was?

But her curiosity soon turned to the wrapped box beside her, as any normal person's would. A present, Shinichi's note had said. A present for her. Before she knew it, she was tugging the light blue wrapping paper away from the box and pulling it open and eagerly looking down into it to see what was waiting for her.

A conch shell looked back at her, nestled amidst a protective nest of white tissue paper.

Ran reached into the box, carefully lifted the shell, and studied it, turning it over in her hands. The outside was rougher, spiky in a few places, and sort of a beige-white color. The inside, though, was smooth and polished and had more of a pink tone to it.

A fleeting thought from her childhood hit her, and she put the opening to her ear and listened. She could hear the ocean—it sounded like waves crashing against the shore and each other.

She was probably smiling like at idiot as she looked back down at the note, she noticed more handwriting at the very bottom of the paper, also in Shinichi's neat handwriting.

_I know you like the ocean. When I get back, we'll go there together. Until then, hope this'll do._

Ran felt herself blush, both at the thought of going there with Shinichi, and at the implications of that statement. There was an underlying message there, if one knew to look for it: _I'll come back._

Taken by a sudden thought, Ran sprinted to her room and grabbed her cell phone and brought it back to the office with her, sitting down on the couch beside Shinichi's gift. It didn't take her long to type in a quick message: thank you, the usual hope that she'd get to see him again soon, and some random text that seemed to serve no purpose aside from filling space, but carried a lot more meaning when one was careful enough to read between the lines.

She stared at the cell phone screen for a few seconds, wavering, before she made her decision, and added one more thing to the end of the message: _XXX, Ran. _Without giving herself time to debate over that, she pressed the button to send the message on its way to Shinichi's cell phone.

Sighing, she sat back against the couch, wondering vaguely if the great detective had figured out what _X_ meant, anyway. She blushed furiously as she thought of his reaction, were he to ever piece together that the letter stood for a kiss.

The conch shell sat on the couch beside her. Ran, still slightly in a daze from the gift and the note, looked at it for a moment before picking it up again and putting it back to her ear.

She didn't notice a pair of blue eyes, watching her knowingly through glass lenses. Conan smiled at her happiness, and made a mental note to thank his parents for sending him that little souvenir from their most recent visit to Hawaii. He'd been looking for something for her as it was, and it had arrived at the opportune time. He watched her quietly from the doorway (he'd cracked the door open so she hopefully wouldn't notice him) for a few moments longer before withdrawing.

Ran never saw him there.

She was too preoccupied with listening to the sound of waves, and thinking about Shinichi.

* * *

**PS.** _Okay, the Hawaii LJ convo _almost _became the basis for this theme, but I changed my mind at the last minute and just used that as a one-shot. Besides, I liked the conch shell idea. Hope you enjoyed the random fluffiness. Four more to go! Much love, ciao for now!_


	27. Overactive Imagination

**Title:** Overactive Imagination  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#26—if only I could make you mine  
**Rating: **PG-13 (for suggestive humor)  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.  
**Summary: **She really didn't know what she was doing to him...

* * *

Mouri Ran was an excellent cook. 

This could not be argued.

And it was with a certain degree of fascination that Shinichi liked to sit and watch her bustle around the kitchen, working her magic. She really was a wizard, able to turn a pile of raw meat, vegetables, and flavorings into a delicacy. Or, in this case, she was combining flour, sugar, eggs, and other things to form a tasty baked creation.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. It already smelled so good…

She slid the last tray into the oven, and closed the door. "Whew, done!" Humming to herself, Ran deposited the dirty dishes in the sink, picked up the bowl and the wooden spoon she'd been using the make the cookies, carried them over to the table, and sat down next to Shinichi. "Now we wait."

"And then cookies?" he asked cheerily.

"And then cookies," she nodded. "Chocolate chip, no less. Best kind there is." She picked up the dough-covered spoon and regarded it thoughtfully for a moment. "Do you remember when we were kids, we used to argue over who got to lick the spoon?"

"Yeah," Shinichi said. "I always won."

"Liar," she retorted before she started cleaning the spoon off. "I know you're not supposed to eat raw cookie dough because of the eggs in it, but it's so good!"

Shinichi, unfortunately, had stopped listening. He was too busy staring.

Ran didn't notice his attention, however, and continued doing what she was doing. Which was cheerfully licking the spoon clean of cookie dough. She seemed to be quite enjoying herself.

Unfortunately, that was what had Shinichi so distracted.

He couldn't help himself. It was irresistibly alluring, the way her tongue slid over the spoon, tracing the curves, then withdrawing back into the recesses of her mouth with its prize of sweet, sweet cookie dough. His eyes refused to be torn away.

Woe to him if she caught him and realized what he was thinking; things were still developing, and moving too fast could result in pain—copious amounts thereof. But she seemed blissfully ignorant of his thoughts and mental images; she was far more occupied with the task she had designated herself to.

Some part of his mind notated bitterly that she wasn't offering him any. How rude.

Was there something about him, Ran, and kitchens? It was in a kitchen fixing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when he'd turned around at just the right moment and caught her openly ogling, shall we say, certain nether-aspects of him.

And now she was jump-starting his overactive imagination, without even realizing she was doing so, thanks to a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. That, and the aura of natural innocence that just seemed to radiate from her. It was a highly intoxicating combination.

Shinichi's mind was fantasizing at mach-three.

_I should kiss you. I really should._

_Wonder how that would go with something other than a wooden spoon…_

_I seriously need to just make you mine. Wonder if you'd kill me…_

_Do you even know what you're doing to me?_

_Pleasant dreams.__There will be pleasant dreams tonight._

_I wonder if Ran ever dreams about me…_

_I really need to make you mine._

_Yeah, this is seriously wasted on the spoon._

It was hypnotic, the way her tongue flitted in and out, making quick work of the cookie dough that still clung so stubbornly to the wooden spoon. She worked over the contours of the spoon, completely oblivious, lapping and licking, to say nothing of the little moans that escaped her when she got something really good, and the few times he heard a murmur of "Yummy!" escape her lips…

Thinking. He needed to stop thinking immediately. And that meant Ran needed to put the utensil down before he either spontaneously combusted, or dove across the table and did something stupid.

"Would you stop that?" he burst suddenly, common sense reclaiming control from hormones.

Ran jumped a mile, stopping her ministrations on the spoon, and blinked at him. "Shinichi?"

He leaned forward and put his forehead on the table. "Give me the damn spoon," he muttered, reaching a hand out in her general direction. "I want some cookie dough, too." Ran stared at him for a second before obligingly passing the wooden spoon into his waiting hand. Shinichi sat up, regarded it thoughtfully, then shrugged and went about business.

_If we were in middle school, we'd get teased that we'd just indirectly kissed each other…meh, I guess it could be worse,_ he thought absently, getting a particularly chocolaty glob that Ran had somehow missed. He glanced over at Ran, who was watching him with a decidedly odd expression on her face. _Huh, she's awfully red. I wonder what she's thinking about._

Meanwhile, Ran's own imagination had just taken over, carrying her away on her own all-expenses paid trip to La La Land. _I seriously need to just make you mine...and that is totally wasted on the stupid spoon...

* * *

_

**PS.** _I had two other stories for this challenge half-finished, but they were giving me problems. Soooooo I took a break, and decided to pen out something very short and very silly. See, my muse decided to go on vacation while I was home on spring break. I'll whip it back into submission sooner or later, but in the meantime, you get randomnes that may or may not be rewrittens. (And as a matter of fact, Shinichi, yes, Ran does actually dream about you on occasion.)_

_Three more to go before I'm finished with the 30 Kisses challenge for Shinichi and Ran—kinda scary, huh?_ _Thanks again for reading, all, and thanks again for the lurvly reviews. Much love!_

_**While I have you all here, a quick announcement: **For twenty thousand views, I thank you all!_


	28. Place Your Bets

**Title:** Place Your Bets  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#27—overflow  
**Rating: **PG-13  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.  
**Summary: **I bet you can't go three days without talking about mysteries…

* * *

He was at it again.

Shinichi had the bit in his teeth, and he was off, on his way down the track at the speed of light.

And Ran had officially had it.

"Shinichi," she cut him off in mid-rant, her voice as warm as an iceberg, "if you say one more word about mysteries, Sherlock Holmes, or Arthur Conan Doyle, I swear to God I'm going to send you flying into that wall over there." To emphasize her point, she point to the wall. It was a very nice wall, if a bit plain. That meant there was nothing for him to hit and potentially die from. Which was why she had picked that particular wall, really.

She wanted to shut him up. She didn't want to kill him.

"But I'm just getting to the good part!" he wheedled.

"I. Don't. Care!" Ran huffed. She was being a bit harsh, but dammit, she was irritated! "For goodness sake, Shinichi, can't you talk about anything other than mysteries? You're like a broken record! I don't think you can talk about anything other than murders and Holmes!"

Shinichi frowned. "Hey, that's not true!"

"Prove it!" she snapped without thinking.

There was a moment of silence, punctuated only by a heated glaring contest. Then Shinichi's lips pulled back into his trademark smirk, the one he always wore as he put murderers in their place with irrefutable evidence. "Why, Ran—do I detect a challenge here?"

She paused and pondered the matter carefully for a second before returning with a smirk of her own. "If you care to take it on, Shinichi, then yes. I challenge you."

He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers together in front of his face. "All right, madam. You're on. Let me hear the terms of your challenge."

Ran thought for a moment. "Three days, Shinichi. You have to go three days without mentioning, talking about, or discussing mysteries, murders, cases, Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, or anything related to them. Three whole days. If you can make it that long, you win."

"Do I still get to go work on cases if one pops up?" he asked, concern flitting over his face.

"Of course! I'm not going to stop you from doing that! If I'm with you and something like that happens, I won't count it against you. I'm irritated, but I'm not cruel," she said, folding her arms. "But the minute it's over, new topic please. Does that sound reasonable, meitantei?"

Shinichi nodded, the very picture of calm; he had that special little spark in his look, the one that spoke volumes of confidence. "Perfectly. Anything else?"

"Yes, one more thing," Ran nodded. "Would you object to a small wager on this?"

"Not at all. I'm listening."

"Loser has to kiss the person of the winner's choice," she deadpanned.

Shinichi's smirk didn't waiver, but he did allow himself a raised eyebrow. "Kiss?"

"Yes, kiss," she repeated. "Unless you'd rather make it something else?"

He mulled over the idea for a few seconds before nodding. "All right," he acknowledged as he stood up and held out a hand. "You have a deal. Hope you're ready to lose."

Ran reached out and clasped it in a firm handshake to seal the deal. "Three days, no mystery talk, starting now." She glanced over at the clock. It was 8:35 on the nose. Seventy-two hours to go.

The gauntlet had been thrown.

_**-o-**_

Day One. Walking to school together.

The Challenge had officially begun.

The conversation between them started off relatively normal, just like any other day: the Good Morning, the Nice Day, the Why The Hell Are You So Late All The Time, the Shut Up You Jerk…

Ah, the joy of having a routine.

As they were nearing the school, Ran asked, "Did you study for the history test?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Not too worried about it."

"I'm not either. It shouldn't be too Doyle."

Shinichi skidded to a stop. "What did you say?"

Ran blinked at him, confused. "I said it shouldn't be too difficult."

He stared at her for a minute, then shook his head. "Never mind. Forget it."

Ran gave him a Look, then shrugged and followed him towards the school, humming cheerfully.

The rest of the school day was relatively uneventful, and Shinichi was doing a surprisingly good job of keeping his tongue on a leash and not going off on his usual mystery tangent. They met up after classes for their usual walk home. The immediate topic was the aforementioned history test.

"That could have been a whole lot worse," Ran sighed. "Could've been better, but…"

"Really?" Shinichi chirped. "I thought it was easy!"

"Yeah, but you're a freak of nature," Ran pointed out. "I'm Sherlock that you did fine."

For the second time that day, Shinichi froze. "What did you say?"

Ran blinked in surprise. "I said that I'm sure you did fine."

Shinichi actually stammered. "But—but I swore I heard…"

"What?"

For a moment, he was suspicious. That was twice now. Was she—could she possibly be…?

He took a good hard look at her with eyes that had been well-trained in picking out the slightest thing amiss. She was looking right back at him with innocent curiosity, and possibly a slight concern that he was finally losing his marbles. Granted, that could be an act, but…no, Ran just wasn't that devious.

This challenge had him so worked up that he was hearing things. That had to be it. Damn overactive imagination. He just shook his head and waved it off. "Nothing. Sorry."

They parted ways at their usual spot.

_**-o-**_

There was a murder in the middle of Day Two, in the park. And Shinichi and Ran just happened to be on the scene, taking a walk together, when the body hit the floor. It wasn't an overly complex case—a jilted woman stabbed her treacherous ex-lover. Shinichi pieced it together in no time flat. He cheerfully acknowledged the thanks of the police, the adoration of the crowd that had gathered, and the questions of the reporters who had appeared to cover the story.

But the minute they had left the scene, Shinichi did the unthinkable: _he changed the subject._

"I'm impressed. You're doing well," Ran said as they headed down the sidewalk after the furor had died down. "But I think we've had enough excitement for one day. Come on—let's go Holmes."

Shinichi skidded to a halt. "Come again?"

"I said we should go home," Ran repeated warily. "Shinichi, are you feeling all right?"

"…I'm fine. Totally fine," he murmured. "Juuuuuust fine…"

Ran raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment further.

_**-o-**_

Fifteen minutes.

That was all the time left in the bet.

Once the clock hands had gone around ninety degrees, it was over.

And Ran was no longer as confident. Hell, she wasn't confident at all.

She really hadn't expected Shinichi to be able to make it a full three days without mentioning mysteries, Holmes, Doyle, or any of that fun stuff. But as he often did, he was surprising her with both his resolve, and the fact that he'd kept himself relatively mum for the last seventy-one hours and forty-five minutes, save for solving that murder the previous day…but he'd shut up about that as soon as the police and press were gone.

She stood by the window and watched the rain falling. It was really storming out there. The rain was gathering in puddles against the curbs, overflowing in the gutters. Lovely…maybe she could talk Shinichi into going for a walk in the rain later.

After the bet was settled.

As if the thought had summoned him, he appeared in the doorway. Jean and sweat-shirt clad, with a bounce in his step that was far too perky for Ran's tastes. "Fifteen minutes. You nervous yet?"

"Not at all!" she rolled her eyes.

"You lie. But that's okay," he smiled. "So let's just hang out and chat until 8:35, hmm?"

"All right, let's," she agreed, taking a seat. "You cave, Mystery Kudo. You'll cave."

He did a double-take and finally demanded, "What the hell are you doing?"

Ran looked startled. "What?"

"You keep saying things!"

"…it's called conversation. Unlike some mystery geeks I know, I'm quite good at it."

"No—the other things!"

"What other things?"

"You keep talking about…things!" he snapped, pointing his infamous Finger of Accusation at her. "You're trying to trick me—subconscious suggestion or something! But it's not working!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Ran insisted.

Shinichi sat back, glaring at her. "I'm onto you. You're not so smart…"

The following minutes passed in relative quiet. And soon, it was the final countdown.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One…

The clock read 8:35. It was over. Seventy-two hours on the dot.

"You win," Ran said with a sigh. "I can't believe it. You actually won."

Shinichi was grinning ear to ear. "I told you I could do it, but you just didn't believe me. So," he leaned back in his chair, still smirking like crazy, "the prize is mine, Ran. Even though you were cheating, Little Miss Subtle. Do you want to know who you get to kiss?"

"Give me a few minutes to sulk before you spring that one me," she sighed.

"Mind if I babble, then?"

Ran stared for a moment before comprehension dawned. "You're ready to explode, aren't you?"

"Can I talk about Holmes now?" he whined, flailing his arms a little.

_**-o-**_

"I can't believe you won the bet," Heiji commented, raising an eyebrow.

Shinichi shook his head. "It wasn't easy, but I did it!"

Heiji chuckled. "So she has to kiss someone you pick?"

"Yup."

"…you didn't pick yourself, though?"

"Nope," he grinned. "That would be too easy. I'm dating her—I can kiss her anytime I want."

"So who'd you pick?"

The door opened, and Ran and Kazuha walked in, chatting animatedly. But when Ran's eyes landed on her boyfriend, her gaze darkened just a tiny bit, and the conversation died rather quickly.

Shinichi raised an eyebrow as one hand slid to his pocket. "Well?"

Ran sighed. "Shinichi, I know there's a reason I let you continue breathing. One of these days, you'll have to remind me exactly what that reason is."

Shinichi smiled evilly. "It was your idea. Remember that."

Ran was still for a second, then turned and kissed Kazuha. Full on the lips.

_CLICK!_

Ran jerked back (while Kazuha continued staring wide-eyed, straight ahead) and turned to glare at Shinichi, who was sitting with a camera poised and a decidedly wicked smirk on his face. "Very nice!" he cheered happily, lowering the device and returning it to the safety of his pocket.

Everything went dangerously still.

Finally, Ran stalked forward to stand menacingly over her boyfriend. "Shinichi. You. That. Camera. Picture." She stammered incoherently for several seconds, then screamed, whirled around fast enough to create a sonic boom, and stomped out the door, dragging a stunned Kazuha behind her.

For a few seconds after the girls had stormed out of the room, the boys were silent.

Then Heiji leaned forward and whispered, "I will _pay_ you to send me a copy of that picture…"

Shinichi snickered. "I think I can do that."

* * *

**PS.** _Whew, there you have it. Now, there are actually two endings to this little tale. In another universe, Ran would come out victorious, and Shinichi would be the one forced to pay the piper. I actually like this ending better, but when I tried to write it as the One True Ending, it just wouldn't come out right. Enjoy!

* * *

_

"He almost won?" Kazuha said incredulously. "But he's at least as bad as Heiji about that crap. You'd think he would have broken a couple hours or so into the bet. Especially with you dropping all your little subliminal hints, you evil girl."

"I know. He really made me sweat," Ran admitted with a blush, lifting her teacup. "But I won—a very nice win, I might add—so he has to face the penalty." One eyebrow quirked in amusement over the rim of her cup as she took a sip of her tea.

"He has to kiss someone?" Kazuha said knowingly. "So who does he have to kiss?" Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, and a sly smirk slid its way across her face. "Are you going to take advantage of this for yourself? I wouldn't blame you if you did…"

To her surprise, Ran shook her head. "No, no, no. He's my boyfriend, I can kiss him anytime I want. No, I went for something a little more interesting. He won't forget this little lesson anytime soon, I guarantee it." The look on her face at that moment could only be described as vindictive. "Perhaps from now on he'll remember that there are other topics of conversations, aside from mysteries and Holmes."

Kazuha stared quizzically at her friend. "If not you, then who—" She was cut off by a crash from the next room, loud enough to make them both jump a mile. But when she glanced back at Ran, she was startled to see that the smirk there was growing.

And then the yelling started—Heiji's voice.

"_KUDO, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"_

"_I LOST A BET! NOW SHUT UP AND HOLD STILL!"

* * *

_

**PS.** _I figure he exploded within the last hour of the challenge.. Then we get the fun scene. Whichever you prefer, I hope you chuckled merrily. Only two left—scary, huh? Thanks, all. Much love!_

**Heiji: **Anybody got any mouthwash?


	29. Aftermath

**Title:** Aftermath  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#11—gardenia  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.  
**Summary: **When Ran awoke, it was to Shinichi sitting beside her bed…smiling.

* * *

When Ran awoke, it was to the sterile white of a hospital room, to the overwhelming scent of gardenias, and to Shinichi sitting in a chair by her bed, watching her with a gentle smile. Sunlight found its way through the closed blinds, casting narrow lines of yellow on the tile floor. The room was comfortably quiet; they were alone.

"Hey," she said softly. There seemed to be a very pleasant fog encasing her senses.

"Hey," he repeated, reaching out with one hand to brush her bangs back from her forehead. "Welcome back, sleepyhead. Wasn't sure if you were ever going to wake up." His fingers lingered on the cool skin beneath her bangs. "Did you have a nice dream?"

"Hmm…" she murmured, closing her eyes and feeling his touch.

"The parents are all out in the waiting room," Shinichi said softly. "Hattori and Kazuha have been keeping them at bay for the moment. According to the nurse, your dad tried to sneak by, and Kazuha floored him, right on his back on the ground. It was really impressive."

Ran laughed lightly at the odd mental image; she turned her head and followed the smell to her bedside table. "Gardenias…" she said , breathing in the sweet fragrance. "You remembered."

"Your favorite," he nodded knowingly. "Of course I would remember that."

Of course…after two years of marriage, she shouldn't be so surprised that he would remember all those little things. Her favorites, her habits, her hobbies, her quirks…all the things that made Ran the person she was. But then again, it was mutual; she knew him inside and out as well. It was a benefit of knowing your spouse since childhood.

"Did you see him?" she asked. She had, right after the blessed event, in the haze of lingering pain and exhaustion and the chaos happening around her. A small, blanket-wrapped bundle had been placed in her arms; she'd held that tiny form close to her for just a few moments before she'd been given something to put her to sleep.

"I saw him," Shinichi chuckled. "I was there when you saw him, too, remember?"

Things were gradually coming back into focus. Yes, he had been there—right beside her, the whole time, obligingly allowing her to crush his hand, and continually whispering words of encouragement into her ear as she screamed. She also remembered the way he'd had a proper heart attack when she'd come into his study, where he was studying the crime scene photos of his latest case, and calmly informed him that she was going into labor, so could he please drive?

"Where is he?" she asked.

"The nurse said she would bring him in soon," he said. "Everything's fine."

As if on cue, the door opened and the nurse stepped in, bearing something very special in a small bassinet. "Kudo-san?" the nurse—a young, fresh-faced woman—said cheerily. "I believe there's someone you need to meet."

Shinichi jumped to his feet as the nurse once again passed Ran a tiny bundle, wrapped in a blue blanket; she then quickly absented herself, leaving the young family alone once more.

Ran just stared down at the small slumbering figure curled against her breast. She looked up at her husband, blue eyes shining. "Wow…" It seemed a childish thing to say, but it was really the only word flashing through her mind at that moment. Wow…just _wow_.

"You did that," Shinichi said with a smile. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her temple. "I know I've told you that you were amazing…you did that." Over the last nine months, a new life had been growing inside Ran, and in the space of the last few hours, she had actually brought that life into the world. Biologically, he knew exactly how it happened, but everything else…it was one of those mysteries he refused to even touch, knowing he would never solve it.

Ran raised an eyebrow at him. "If I recall, you helped. This isn't exactly a solo sport, Shinichi." She was rewarded when he had the grace to blush and cough delicately. But her attention swiftly returned to the tiny newborn, sound asleep in her arms.

Their blessing. Their child. _Their son._

They were silent for a long time, simply sitting together and enjoying the aftermath and the glow of realization and love. She held their baby; he held her. It was overwhelming.

"You know…" Ran said softly after a while, "we never did decide on a name."

Shinichi thought for a moment, then grinned cheekily. "How about Conan?"

* * *

**PS.** _And lo, it was short and fluffy. Only one left…and it's already written, to be posted soon. Hard to believe we're almost done. Hope all you lurvly people will tune in for the next (and final) installment of Shinichi and Ran's 30 Kisses. Thanks, all! Much love!_

_**From the Author: **Heaping praises to **Chibi Nao**, lovely reviewer number three hundred! You (and everyone else who took the time to review) are the cream of my corn, the apple of my pie! Thank you so much, oh pearls of my oysters!_


	30. Storm Breaking

**Title:** Storm Breaking  
**Author:** Candyland  
**Pairing: **Kudo Shinichi/Mouri Ran  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Theme: **#30—kiss  
**Rating: **PG-13 (make-out-tastic!)  
**Disclaimer: **All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I claim none, I merely borrow them and dress them up in frilly smocks and make them dance to my ever-changing will like the puppets they are.  
**Summary: **The storm's raging, the power's out, they're trapped, and Ran's angry...

* * *

There was a distinct scratching noise as tree branches clawed at the window. Rain pattered noisily against the roof, while thunder rolled across the sky. It had been heralded by some as the 'storm of the century,' a ferocity of nature that had not been seen in quite some time. Only an idiot would dare to go outside in that gale. 

Mouri Ran was considering it.

She looked forlornly out the window and swallowed hard. She could barely see beyond the glass, the rain was coming down so hard and the clouds were so dark. Which was worse—staying here, or running off into the tempest?

Her weary eyes drifted around her. She was standing just beyond the front door in the darkened foyer, the entryway of the Kudo home. Shinichi's home.

Coming here was definitely not the smartest thing she had ever done. She shouldn't have been so impulsive. And now she was trapped, unable to leave. She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to see him. She hated him—he had lied to her.

She shouldn't have come.

So why was she here?

It was only a matter of time before her presence was discovered. Kudo Shinichi was not one who did not notice things amiss, as his record and prowess as a detective had repeatedly proven. Sooner or later, he'd hear something, and come to see what was up. For all she knew, he could hear her breathing from wherever he was in the house.

_Shinichi…_

Maybe she should go find him, if only to do him the simple courtesy of letting him know that he had a temporary house-guest. Then she could go sit somewhere and wait for the storm to clear so she could leave. Preferably, sit somewhere on the other side of the house. Yes, that was it…

She knew enough of her longtime best friend to be able to pinpoint the most likely places he would be within the enormous house. Humans were creatures of habit, after all, and though he was brilliant, Shinichi was no exception to that rule. So she followed her instincts, and headed for the library.

Feeling more than a little embarrassed, she tapped lightly on the door with the back of one hand, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a soft _Come in._ So he was in there, and he had invited her in. Taking a deep breath and gathering the shreds of her already-shot nerves, she opened the door and went in, praying to every deity she had ever heard of that she didn't start to cry again.

He watched her enter fairly impassively, with only the tiniest raise of one eyebrow to betray his surprise. He was curled up in a chair near the unlit fireplace that Ran knew from experience was extremely comfortable; there was a book in his hands, most likely one of those mystery novels he so favored.

"Ran…" he said her name, and she willed her heart not to skip beats. "Why are you here?"

It wasn't a challenge, and it wasn't an insult. His tone was simple, asking what she was doing in his home. And for one heartbeat, she almost blurted out a truth that she herself wasn't sure of. But her tongue froze, and she quickly made up a story. "I—I got caught in the storm," she improvised. "This was the closest place. I figured you wouldn't mind if I waited it out."

Cerulean eyes scanned over her, and she had the sudden, disconcerting feeling that he was reading her mind. Was that what it felt like to a suspect in one of his cases? She could _almost_ pity those people. That thoughtful stare was just _piercing_, like nothing could hide from it.

The feeling was compounded when he smiled—almost _sadly_—and shook his head, turning back to his book. "The storm started fifteen minutes ago, and you're completely dry. You haven't been outside since it started raining. And I know I'm…not exactly your favorite person right now. Agasa lives next door—you could have gone there."

Her heart plummeted, and she felt it crash somewhere down by her shoes.

"You're welcome to stay here as long as you need," he went on, flipping a page. "I won't chase you out. Make yourself comfortable." He turned another page a few seconds later, and she vaguely wondered if he was actually looking at the words; his eyes didn't seem to be focused on much of anything that she could see.

"I—thank you," she finished lamely. But she didn't move from the doorway, and her eyes did not move from the form in the chair. Her trained eye saw the tension in his shoulders grow beneath her watchful gaze, and she didn't miss the tiny flush that made its way to his face.

"You can sit down," he said after a tense moment.

She moved slowly into the room, and took another, equally comfortable chair, which she perched on as though afraid it would break. Hands stayed clasped in her lap, eyes downcast. She was thinking.

Lightning flared, illuminating the sky beyond the windows.

He flipped another page, convincing her that he wasn't really reading anything.

Finally, it was just too much.

"Say something," she snapped suddenly. He jolted, and looked at her with surprise clearly printed on his face, so she raced on, "Please, just say something. Anything."

His expression shifted from surprise to something that was strangely akin to sadness. "You said you didn't want to talk to me right now. I'll respect that."

The next few harsh words that had been poised on her tongue froze and died; her anger flooded away, puddling around her feet, leaving only a very real exhaustion. She was angry, and tired of it, but her pride wouldn't let her do anything about it right now.

_**-o-**_

"_Ran—"_

"_No, I don't want to hear it!"_

"_But—"_

"_Just leave me alone, okay? I need to think! Just—don't talk to me! Just stay away from me!"_

_The minute the words were out of her mouth, she wished she could snatch them back and hide them away forever, but she refused to back down. She heard him make a small noise, the emotion behind which she couldn't place, then footsteps as he walked away without another word._

_As he retreated, she could have sworn she heard something shatter._

_She might as well have just ripped him open with her fingernails and watched him bleed to death on the floor. It probably would have hurt less, and the pain would have been over a lot faster. For him, anyway. For her…she didn't know if even time could heal these wounds._

_She hated him. He had lied to her._

_**-o-**_

"If you want to talk…" he added quietly, his voice trailing off.

She remained motionless, then nodded once. "You lied to me," she began curtly. "You lied to me for all that time." She felt her face burn, though whether it was from anger, shame, or something else entirely, she wasn't sure. "I told Conan a lot of secrets. And you just—" The sentence clipped off as her hands tightened into white-knuckled fists in her lap.

"I know…Ran, I'm sorry. I just couldn't tell you…" Shinichi whispered. He had been unusually somber since that day; there was none of the jocular tone, none of the teasing. He was almost a shell, and she couldn't help but wonder how much of that was her fault, however indirectly. "I told you all of the reasons. I didn't want to…"

"But you did." She stood up suddenly, making him jump again. The words were overly harsh, even to her own ears. They'd had this talk once already, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized that he had done the best he truly could in his situation.

Damn her pride…why was she so angry all of a sudden?

She was a bit surprised when he closed the book and set it on the arm of the chair before standing up. He turned to face her, and she was amazed when he met her gaze squarely. She took a very deep breath and reminded herself not to get lost in those eyes.

"If I make you so angry, maybe I should just back out of your life gracefully," Shinichi said, his expression unreadable, "while we both still have some pride left. Before this gets ugly." One short sentence, with all the shattering effects of a brick thrown through a window.

Ran started to shake—fury, frustration, heartbreak, sadness, and a whole myriad of other emotions. He would dare even suggest such a thing? How dare he! He was the reason behind this, and he was trying to—to…she couldn't even finish the _thought_ coherently. She was about to raise a fist and show him _exactly_ what he could do with _that_ little notion when there was a loud crack outside—

—and the house went dark.

For a moment, it was silent.

"Well, this isn't good," Shinichi's voice commented softly through the darkness.

"No shit, Sherlock," Ran shot back without thinking.

A moment of silence. Then he wryly replied, "I'll take that as a compliment, I think." But even the teasing and sarcasm that were almost his trademarks sounded forced and unnatural

Another long minute of quiet, save for the storm.

Then there was a creak on the landing outside the door.

Ran shrieked and dove forward, grappling through the darkness. And through some miracle, her arms managed to close around Shinichi's torso. She felt the rough fabric of his sweatshirt against her cheek, felt his warmth right through the thick material. And she clung to him for dear life, eyes squeezed shut against the dark room.

"Uh, Ran?" he sounded confused. Uncertain hands found their way to her shoulders.

"Shinichi," she said flatly, "remember all those times when we were kids and you used to tease me all the time and try to scare me half to death by telling me that your house was haunted and that the ghosts liked to eat little girls and all that fun stuff?"

"Yes…"

"I hate you."

Another short period of silence, tempered only by the sound of the storm. Then he chuckled lightly, "I'm sorry." He paused. "You're still afraid of ghosts?" He sounded vaguely amused, in spite of how tense the situation between them really was. 

"Shut up."

It was at that point that both seemed to realize their position—pressed together, her face buried in his shoulder, one of his hands on her shoulder and the other on her back. So very close…

"Umm…I think I should go light a fire, or some candles or something…" he actually stammered. Kudo Shinichi, the ever-calm, consistently level-headed detective, _never_ stuttered. The hands removed themselves, and there was a soft rustle as he moved away. The warm comfort against the darkness was gone, and Ran suddenly felt very cold.

She waited patiently, not moving; she could hear him moving around. His attempts to give them light were marked by a few thuds, a couple of clangs, an exclamation of pain or two, and one very loud, very rude, very _creative_ curse. But finally, after innumerable moments in the darkness, there was a spark, and a lighted match moved through the air, seemingly aided by invisible hands, before finally, a tiny flame blossomed. It grew, and before too long, the fireplace was blazing, effectively chasing the darkness away.

The room was bathed in a soft, yellow light; it fell in shadows across Shinichi's features, and for a split second, Ran was certain she saw Conan there. But it was a mere flicker, the barest recollection of something that had only recently come to light, and it vanished in the time it took for her to blink, leaving only Shinichi, kneeling beside the hearth.

Then he rose, and the shadows shifted. This time, Ran clearly saw something else: she saw a young man, all of eighteen years old, who was far too worn-down for his age. She saw someone who had been dragged through the lowest levels of hell face-down, but was still standing upright. But she also saw exhaustion, sadness, sorrow, and pain. All of it and more, screaming from blue eyes, twin sapphires caught in the fleeting shadows of the firelight.

Ran's breath hitched.

She hated him. He had lied to her.

"Ran…why did you come here?" he asked.

He was so subdued, it was like he was a different person. Two young men of the same appearance and intelligence, both responding to the name Kudo Shinichi. But one was the calm, cool private eye who never missed his mark in a case and whose greatest pleasure (outside of soccer and solving a difficult case) was mercilessly teasing his best friend, while this one was shy, uncertain, no confidence at all. There was nothing left; the calm he had displayed when she had come into the room was a mask that had slipped away from his precious control, sliding from his features to reveal the very-real pain that lay underneath.

He had brought down the Black Organization, at the cost of her trust. He had lied to her…

…but she had broken him.

Something compelled her to be honest this time. "I don't know…"

_**-o-**_

_She was walking, alone. If she had stayed inside, she would have gone royally insane. Best to get out now and just try and calm herself down. And so she had wandered, not paying attention to where she was going until she noticed that it was getting late, and there were clouds rolling._

_It was then that she had noticed where her feet had taken her. She was beyond the gates, looking up at a house she knew all-too-well. How many times had she chased her friend back to that house after school? She knew the enormous home like it was her own._

_And somewhere within it was the man she loved._

_Her body seemed to have acquired a mind of its own; her hands were pushing the gates open even as her thoughts continued to run rampant, and she was halfway down the long driveway before her mind caught up with her actions._

_But she didn't stop, she didn't _want _to stop. Her hands fumbled at the doorknob and she let herself in. That was purely force of habit—she was such a frequent visitor to the Kudo home that she rarely even bothered knocking anymore. Shinichi had always teased that someday she would walk in and see something she wasn't supposed to._

_Surprisingly, it was the sound of her feet against the hard floor that snapped her out of her trance-like state. She was in Shinichi's house. She had run here, and was panting slightly from exertion. But she had opened the door and walked in, just like old times._

_She had to leave._

_Unfortunately, this whole situation seemed to be one big joke, some god playing a cruel trick on her. The clouds that had been gathering all day finally gave way, and the storm was let loose. It gathered steam quickly, and within moments, the 'storm of the century' was sweeping through town. She stared out the window at the storm, realizing slowly that she was trapped in a house with a man she despised and loved more than life itself._

_She hated him…no, not really. Was that it at all?_

_**-o-**_

He turned away from her, hiding his expression and moving away from the firelight, further into the cover of the shadows. He was walking away, turning his back; she realized belatedly that maybe it was because he just didn't know what to do anymore.

Before Ran even realized she was moving, she had crossed the distance between them and slid her arms around his waist. Her head slumped forward to rest against the back of his shoulder. She felt him tense beneath her touch, but didn't back away.

"Shinichi…"

"I'm leaving," he said quietly.

At first, she didn't understand. "What do you mean?"

"I'm going to America," he elaborated. "With my parents."

"When will you come back?" Ran asked shakily. "How long will you be gone?"

A moment of dead silence reigned before he answered, "I'm moving there permanently, Ran."

There was a very unpleasant noise then—Ran didn't know if Shinichi heard it, but it was loud and clear to her. The tragic sound of what was left of her broken heart imploding into even more miniscule pieces. "But—but why?" She was mortified when her voice cracked and the tears came anew.

A pause. "I don't want to stay here, Ran," Shinichi sighed; one of his hands moved to cover one of hers on his stomach, but the tension remained. He seemed deflated, the ego and confidence that had been the trademarks of the Holmes of the Heisai era all but vanished. "Everyone's miserable because of me…I need to get away."

"But—but…" Her mind went completely void of words. She couldn't speak; there was just that raw, overwhelming horror at the prospect of losing him again—this time for real. He wouldn't even be at her side in disguise this time.

Once upon a time, it had been her and Shinichi, inseparable friends. Then Shinichi had vanished, and Conan had fallen into her life; she'd had them both in a sense at that point. Shinichi called at random intervals, and Conan, her adoptive little brother, followed her around like a small shadow, always watching over her shoulder with a gaze that was far too knowing for his supposed age. And she had lost Conan when the truth had come out.

But Shinichi had come back. She hadn't wanted to admit it, but she already knew that she would eventually forgive him, and maybe they could grasp at some of what had been stolen from them by the Black Organization's poison. Things could never go back to what they had been before, but maybe…

But if he left now…she would never see him again.

She didn't hate him…

Her thoughts were interrupted when he moved away, so suddenly that he stepped right out of her grip; he turned to look at her, his features half-shrouded in shadow. "It's for the best," he said, sounding almost as though trying to convince himself as much as her.

"Shinichi—" Still, no words would come to her.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then he apparently decided something and took a deep breath. "I have something I need to tell you before I leave, though…" His expression shifted from sorrowful to something akin to shame. "I—I know I probably shouldn't tell you…and I know this isn't special or romantic or anything…" He was starting to babble, hands waving as he spoke. "And I don't have flowers or anything to give you, and you'll probably hate me for doing this now, but…"

He paused, and she thought he was going to stop. But instead, he startled her by stepping forward and wrapping both his arms around her, burying his face in her shoulder; she was too surprised to react. "I love you, Ran. I'm in love with you…I have been since before I even knew what it was." His words were almost a sob. "I should've told you that day at Tropical Land, but…" He trailed off, and after a moment, he released her, stepping back the tiniest bit. The firelight fluttered across his terrified expression.

Ran was stunned, trying to process his declaration. But rather than feeling like the floor had been dropped out from under her again, she felt…calm. Almost…relieved. Had she been thinking clearly, she probably would have grabbed on and not let go. Ever. But wait—if he felt that strongly about her, then why would he…she had to ask. "If you love me," she whispered, snaking her arms around his waist, "then why are you leaving me?"

"After what happened? Ran, I don't…" he murmured. "Could you…" Was he _that_ broken, after all that had happened? There was no confidence left in him at all. If they could survive this, Ran honestly believed that they could survive anything. But would they survive this? What could she do?

Her words would never be enough to convince him. He was too far gone now. She could tell him the entire truth—that it would kill her more to lose him then it would for him to stay—and it wouldn't change his mind; he wouldn't believe her. The man was far too pigheaded for his own good, and even if her words could somehow convince him to stay, it could be eons before she got him straightened out again, convinced that it was _true_.

So she would have to convince him another way. She wished desperately that there was some magic that would allow him to see into her mind, her heart, and him into hers, so that he would _know_, beyond any shadow of doubt, how she felt. Her fluttering heart slammed itself against her ribs, a bird beating itself senseless in a vain attempt to escape from its cage.

"Shinichi…Shinichi, you baka…" One of her hands moved of its own volition, sliding up his arm to touch the side of his neck. "Do you really think it would make me happier if you left?" He looked surprised; she felt his muscles tense in surprise and apprehension, but otherwise he didn't move an inch. "Shinichi…I love you. If you leave me now, it would break my heart. I already lost you once—do you think I could go through it again?"

"But—" he started to protest, looking more than a little lost. "You said—"

She didn't think anymore. Thoughts were a hindrance, an obstacle merely slowing her down. She just moved. His name was the last breath whispered across her lips as she closed the small gap between them…and kissed him, just like she had so many times in her dreams.

Time froze, and yet hours sped by in a heartbeat. Fireworks exploded in her ears, and chills raced down her spine. Her senses were alight, on fire, picking up every single nuance of scent, taste, and touch. 

It doubled when she felt Shinichi's unsteady hands move, one to the small of her back, the other up to circle her shoulders possessively. Whether he was actually thinking or just moving on instinct, she hadn't a clue. His fingers traced tiny patterns on her back, and even through her jacket and shirt, the touch left her skin tingling. He had tensed as stiff as iron at the first contact, but slowly, she could feel him relax as he responded to unspoken questions.

Perhaps his confidence was growing, or perhaps he didn't even know what he was going, but the hand on her shoulder moved up to her face; one thumb slid over her chin, gently parting her lips to let him in. She moaned slightly in surprise, but made no arguments. That accomplished, his hand moved to the back of her head, fingers tangling themselves in long hair. He allowed not even an iota of space between them, using the hand on her lower back to press her tightly against him, as though they could meld together and become one instead of two.

She vaguely remembered that she had been angry a very short time ago. But now she couldn't think of anything except Shinichi, _her_ Shinichi. Since when was he so _aggressive_? The calm, collected detective who could lay out any crime with flawless eloquence, but who could barely speak his own heart out loud, and who five minutes ago had been prepared to walk out of her life forever because he felt lower than dirt for making her cry…those were _his_ lips caressing hers with that gentle desperation, and _his_ hands resting against her back and sides, hesitant caresses that left her wanting, needing more.

It frightened her, not only the depth of emotion reflected in kisses and touches, but the response it elicited in her. It unearthed something buried within her, something warm and passionate that she hadn't known existed—a need, a desperate wanting. She was drowning in a well of fire, of purest _want_.

Ran just let go, giving in and letting her instincts dictate her actions and movements. One arm snaked around his neck, fingers tangling in short brown hair; the other grabbed the front of his sweatshirt in a tight fist, pulling him closer. A moan escaped her without her permission, but it only seemed to further encourage him, and his fingers splayed out across her back, crushing her against him.

Reality at that moment, she realized decisively, was far, far superior to anything her subconscious could have come up with, in even her wildest dreams. And outside, thunder and lightning continued to rumble across the charcoal-colored sky.

It wasn't until her jacket slowly slid from her shoulders to a heap on the floor at her feet that Ran took a quick inventory of herself. Her hair was mussed, probably beyond immediate repair, her clothing was skewed on her slender frame, and she could barely breathe. She should stop…they needed to stop…

His lips slid from hers, tracing a path up her jaw line. She thought she groaned his name again, but she honestly wasn't sure. Her vision had clouded, and she was walking through a haze, moving through water. There was just Shinichi and his seemingly-endless love, filling her senses.

What did he feel? Did he feel the same desperation she did, the same fears of what would come from this? Was he even thinking anymore? This was Shinichi, her best friend since childhood, yet she was hard-pressed to say exactly when she had realized that he was male, and so much more to her than the simple title of 'friend.' But if he had felt this way for this long…being trapped as Conan had left him completely unable to act, were he ever to get up the actual nerve to do it.

And…hadn't Shinichi been wearing a sweatshirt a minute ago? But it was gone; now he was just wearing a T-shirt, and if she thought about it for a hundred years, she was certain she would never know where it had gone. Not that it matter—there were other things more important at the moment.

He was teasing her neck now. And, in a move she had never realized he was bold enough to make, one of his hands slid under her shirt, his fingers sliding over the smooth, bare skin of her back. Did he even know what he was doing anymore? Maybe, maybe not, but she didn't want to stop him. She clung to him, wondering if it was all some bizarre dream, and if she let go, she would be in her own bed, and Shinichi would meet her for the walk to school…

Or would Conan be buzzing around, asking about breakfast?

Ran's few remaining thoughts finally disintegrated into that oh-so-pleasant fog as he found a particularly sensitive spot on her neck, and without meaning to or thinking about it, she moved her head forward and gently bit at the spot where his jaw line met his throat.

He froze, and for a moment she wondered fearfully if she had done something wrong.

But all remaining thoughts were derailed as Shinichi pressed against her again, his lips reclaiming hers while he leaned into her. Ran surrendered to him and herself as he used the hand on her back to gently lower her to the fire-warmed rug on the floor.

Beyond the window, the thunder and lightning subsided, but the rain continued to fall in sheets.

_**-o-**_

Shinichi didn't move—he was afraid to. But it had been several minutes, and neither of them had really moved or spoken, and he was worried. Gathering his courage and praying she wouldn't hate him or deck him too hard, he lifted his head slightly from its pillow on her shoulder and whispered, "Ran?"

"Hmm?" the mumble was drowsy, and he wondered vaguely if she had been falling asleep.

"Are you okay?"

Ran sighed, though it wasn't so much upset as contented; he was always so concerned. Her fingers traced tiny patterns on his shoulder, teasing the muscles there into relaxation. "I'm fine…" And it was true. She was warm and comfortable, relaxing in the arms of her beloved; she felt safe. "You know, you really don't have to worry so much." Sensing he was about to protest, she went on. "I'm not a child, Shinichi. I can decide things for myself."

He made a little noise at her declaration, but otherwise relaxed a little bit, and for the moment, it seemed his protests had died. She let out another sigh and let her eyelids droop over tired eyes. It was silent, save for the rain against the roof, the fire crackling noisily, and their slow, steady breathing. They were both a royal mess—more or less clothed (they hadn't quite gone _that_ far), but disheveled beyond immediate repair—not that anyone was around to see their state.

Finally, he shifted, rolling over onto his side next to her; one of his arms stayed comfortably around her waist, though. "So…umm…" he spoke hesitantly, "…what happens now?"

His question sparked a horrible thought, and Ran propped herself up on one elbow to look at him with wide eyes. "…are you still going to leave?" she asked, trying valiantly not to start trembling. He would feel it, and he could always see right through her anyway.

Shinichi stared at her. "Ran…"

All the warmth, the happiness that had accumulated vanished as tears sprang to her eyes again and she started to shake, against her will. Her own body continued to betray her though its insubordination.

But his arm tightened around her, pulling her closer once more, and he kissed her again. "There's no way I could just leave you after that. I mean…umm…" he blushed and swallowed hard, "…if you'll have me…I'll stay."

Silence for a moment. Then, she dove at him throwing her arms around his neck in the tightest hug she could muster, rolling him over in the process. "Don't you dare leave me again, you understand?"

"…choking…not breathing…" he gasped, and she blushed sheepishly as she loosened her grasp on him; she did not, however, let go entirely. "Ran…I told you. I love you. I just thought…after everything…" He was grappling now to explain something that had made perfect sense to him only a short time before. Finally he gave up and just looked at her sheepishly.

"Baka!" she admonished without putting much force behind the word. "Shinichi…yes, I was angry, but I'm not anymore." The blush already touching her face deepened as she thought of what had just happened between them. They really had grown up, hadn't they? "I don't want you to leave. I already lost you once—I don't think I could do it again."

Gentle fingers touched her cheek. "Ran…"

"Just—don't hide from me again," she half-begged, reaching up and touching his hand as it caressed the side of her face. "Please."

He nodded silently. Then he seemed to think something over for a minute before he spoke again. "Sooooo…whatcha doing Friday night?" The attempt at the joke was potentially dangerous, he knew, but for the life of him, he couldn't think of any other damn thing to say.

And he was inordinately relieved when she laughed and gave him a playful push on the shoulder. He caught her wrist and pulled her to him again to seal the deal with a kiss.

Outside, the storm of the century finally broke as the rain died away and stopped. The first few rays of warm, golden sunlight began to peek through the thick blanket of clouds. And the world, a world that only moments before had been beaten by rain and threatened by thunder and lightning, began to heal itself anew in a process as old as time itself.

* * *

**PS. **_I wrote this well over a year ago, but never posted it anywhere, and sort of forgot about it. So then I got into 30 Kisses, and remembered it and pulled it out. Did some editing, changed a whole lot of stuff. Yes, some OOC, but I'm not worrying about it. Lyrics for the LJ version are from the musical **Parade**; the song is "All the Wasted Time," and I swear it could be their theme song! Used without permission._

_I dabbled with the idea of trying to cram all thirty themes into one extra story, but…well, I've got other projects that I want to go work on, like the Hugs for Heiji and Kazuha, the Nights for Kaito and Aoko, and just various other things. So with this, the challenge concludes. Thank you all for reading and sticking with me through them all. I hope you enjoyed the thirty kisses of Shinichi and Ran._

_BTW, I hereby give this chapter dual dedicatation: first, to the lovely miss **sapphirestars**. It was officially the cutest thing ever when she asked me (in a small voice) when I was going to post this. Secondly, to the fabulous **MichelleTherese**, who is an amazing writer and the mistress of constructive criticism--I do listen, and I appreciate it! (hugs to both)  
_

_And now...I leave you with this while I go to Europe for a week. See you all when I get back. Much love, everyone! Ciao! (Candy-chan toodles off into the sunset, counting euros)  
_


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